BOARDINC 


HORACE  HOLDEN 


YOUNG  BOYS  AND 
BOARDING-SCHOOL 

THE  FUNCTIONS,  ORGANISATION  AND 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  THE  SUB- 
PREPARATORY  BOARDING- 
SCHOOL  FOR  BOYS 

BY 

HORACE  HOLDEN 
H 


RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

THE  GORHAM  PRESS 

BOSTON 


Copyright  1913  by  Richard  G.  Badger 

All  Rights  Reserved  ^  4*7 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


To  my  friend 

F.  C.  W. 
who  awakened  me  to  a  new  vocation. 


296653 


PREFACE 

This  thesis  was  first  written  in  1908-1909  to 
satisfy  required  work  in  a  graduate  course  at 
Harvard  University,  known  then  as  "  Educa- 
tion 3c."  I  was  requested  from  many  quarters 
at  that  time,  to  seek  a  publisher,  but  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Faculty  in  the  Department  of 
Education,  I  have  waited  for  a  few  years,  and 
have  revised  the  book  in  "the  light  of  expe- 
rience." I  am  sure  that  those  gentlemen  who 
are  my  very  good  friends,  and  who  have  not  only 
been  the  avenues  of  instruction  to  me,  but  of 
great  inspiration  as  well,  hoped  that  a  change 
would  come  over  the  "spirit  of  my  dream/'  but 
I  must  frankly  say,  that  however  much  in  error 
I  may  be,  my  continued  thought  on  the  matter 
leads  but  to  the  conclusion  that  the  educational 
opportunities  for  the  classes,  must  of  necessity  be 
different  from  those  of  the  masses.  We  must 
look  at  the  question  from  a  practical  standpoint, 
and  I  am  very  sure  that  a  form  of  education  for 
the  more  favored  of  fortune  that  looks  towarda 
a  democratic  ideal  and  a  patriotic  support  of  the 


6        YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

institutions  and  traditions  of  America,  must  be 
infinitely  better  than  any  form  that  would  thrust 
the  boy  into  a  heterogeneous  environment,  and 
expect  him  to  emerge  uninfluenced  by  such  an 
association.  Furthermore,  I  firmly  believe  that 
many  hold  not  only  this  view  of  democracy  them- 
selves, but  really  think  that  a  boy  should  be  well- 
grounded  in  the  "  Three  R's,"  although  they 
may  fear  to  acknowledge  such  an  antiquated 
creed,  in  the  face  of  the  present-day  public 
school  curriculum,  which,  as  any  student  of 
pedagogy  will  affirm,  is  general  culture.  The 
culture  is  proving  deplorably  " general' '  as  he 
will  observe  who  has  the  inclination  to  make 
exhaustive  inspections  of  those  schools  that  are 
considered  our  "best"  grammar  and  high 
schools.  I  believe  a  re-action  to  this  "spreading 
out"  is  now  setting  in,  which  merely  supports 
my  contention  in  respect  to  the  curriculum. 
However,  I  should  digress  no  further,  as  I  do 
not  assume  the  right  to  judge  a  system  which  I 
know  merely  from  empirical  conclusions.  My 
thought  and  research  lie  in  the  hope  of  present- 
ing a  complete  plan  for  the  organisation  and 
administration  of  a  boarding-school  for  young 
boys,  between  the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen 
years,  of  a  type  known  in  England  as  the 
"preparatory"  school,  and  in  America  as,  inter- 


PREFACE  7 

changeably,  the  "Lower  School,"  the  "Junior 
Boarding-school,"  or  the  "Sub-preparatory 
School." 

To  do  this,  it  has  been  necessary  to  consider  at 
length  the  functions  of  the  junior  boarding- 
school,  and  then  to  base  my  educational  plan 
upon  a  practical  consideration  of  the  actual 
class  conditions  existing  in  America  to-day,  and 
learned,  not  theoretically,  but  through  a  contact 
of  several  years  with  the  business  and  financial 
world.  I  invite  criticism  upon  the  question 
whether  this  policy  is  not  a  wiser  one,  than  the 
presentation  of  a  plan  founded  upon  some  vague 
ideals  which  might  serve  a  perfect,  but  very  dis- 
tant social  community.  The  boy  is  a  creature 
strongly  susceptible  to  environment  during  his 
early  years,  so  that,  if  it  is  his  fortune  to  be  born 
into  the  socially  superior  and  directing  classes, 
his  inherited  cultural  polish  need  not  be  rubbed 
off — any  more  than  active,  red-blooded  boy- 
life  will,  naturally,  rub  it  off — by  premature 
association  with  those  outside  his  own  social  posi- 
tion. With  the  approach  of  maturity,  when  once 
his  character  has  been  formed,  he  may  meet  the 
world  in  all  its  various  phases,  and,  in  his  uni- 
versity days,  and  even  secondary  school  days, 
mingle  with  impunity  among  men  of  many  minds 
and  stations. 


8        YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  condemned  for  setting  forth 
a  plan  of  education  which  will  turn  out  an  un- 
democratic citizen.  I  think  democracy  is,  per- 
haps, in  its  ideal  condition,  a  matter  of  level; 
but  I  do  not  think  that  a  boy  or  a  man  needs  to 
descend  to  someone  else's  level  to  become  demo- 
cratic, and  as  the  boy  favored  by  fortune  has 
the  advantages  in  the  matter  of  level,  he  should 
be  prepared  to  lead  such  a  life,  as  to  help  the 
establishment  of  the  ideal  democracy,  by  draw- 
ing others  up  to  his  level.  This  means  personal 
power,  and  elements  of  personal  power  are  what 
the  junior  boarding-school  should  develop.  I  do 
not  feel  that  this  aim  can  be  misconstrued,  unless 
perhaps  by  that  type  of  educator  whom  I  have 
met  with  in  print,  one  who  seems  to  think  that 
the  private  school  has  no  right  to  exist  at  all. 
His  notions  are  fixed,  and  argument  is  futile.  For 
the  present  the  boarding-school  for  young  boys 
has  a  right  to  flourish,  for  it  is  responding  more 
and  more  to  an  educational  demand.  As  to  its 
future,  it  all  depends  whether  it  improves  or 
deteriorates.  The  man  it  seeks  to  mould,  is  the 
democratic  aristocrat,  one  who  is  to  become  a 
great  leader  in  the  world,  because  he  has  learned 
to  follow. 

I  have  not  found,  in  my  own  reading,  a  manual 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  matter  of  pre- 


PREFACE  $ 

adolescents  in  boarding-schools,  and  so  I  am 
hoping,  that  this  at  least  may  prove  to  be 
a  modest  beginning  towards  a  bibliography 
of  the  subject.  If  it  can  offer  any  sugges- 
tion of  value  to  the  few  who  are  now  so 
earnestly  working,  or  planning  to  work,  with 
the  boy  in  boarding-school,  I  shall  feel  that 
its  revision  has  not  been  in  vain.  Perhaps  if 
there  is  any  credit  due  me  at  all,  I  should 
only  assume  it  for  a  compilation  of  the  ideas  and 
research  of  others,  so  frequently  do  I  resort  to 
quotations ;  and  in  the  next  breath  I  should  have 
to  petition  the  indulgence  of  the  authorities 
quoted,  as  I  am  positive  that  I  have  been  quixotic 
enough  to  use  such  fragmentary  selections  from 
their  writings,  as  to  considerably  alter  the 
authors '  meanings.  My  interpretations  certainly 
are  individual,  and  I  am  willing  to  apologise  in 
every  instance  where  I  have  borrowed  the 
research  or  expressions  of  others  to  amplify  my 
own  ideas,  or  to  express  some  important  fact  in 
more  graceful  phrases  than  my  own  pen  com- 
mand? The  theories  from  which  all  educational 
systems  spring,  before  they  bear  the  practical 
fruits,  are  quite  as  much  in  evidence  in  the 
early  pages  of  this  book,  as  though  I  belonged 
to  that  very  class  of  theorists  that  I  condemn,  but 
I  am  hopeful  that  the  reader  may  find  something 


10      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

of  use,  if  nothing  more  than  the  stimulation  of 
his  thought,  in  the  blossom  of  the  book  at  least, 
without  having  to  reach  the  very  end  in  order 
to  be  satisfied  that  the  subject  is  one  worthy  of 
deeper  reflection  than  that  which  is  usually  given 
it.  And  further,  I  must  ask  the  indulgence  of 
American  schoolmen,  if  they  feel  my  attitude 
towards  English  education  verges  too  closely 
upon  an  innuendo.  We  must  be  broad  enough  to 
realise  that  the  English  have  been  at  this  work 
for  a  long  time,  and  should  know  how  to  produce 
results.  I  am  sure  that  any  American  who  has 
had  the  intimate  life  and  work  in  English  schools 
that  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  experience,  will 
not  interpret  my  admiration  of  many  of  their 
methods  as  Anglomania.  It  is  patriotism  rather 
than  selfishness  that  seeks  the  best  for  the  Ameri- 
can boy,  and  if  some  things  that  are  best  may  be 
borrowed  from  England,  evidently  a  trip  across 
the  Atlantic  makes  for  the  welfare  of  our  junior 
boarding-school. 

Thorndike  says:  "It  isn't  of  any  use  for 
steam  to  just  be :  it  must  make  wheels  go.  If  it 
just  .  .  .  hisses  and  displays  itself,  it  only 
wears  out  the  boiler."1  So  the  formulation  of  a 
plan  for  the  operation  of  a  school  is  mere  hypo- 

1  Human  Nature  Club ;  Thorndike.    P.  125. 


PREFACE  11 

thesis  until  put  to  the  practical  test.  Then,  if 
proven,  and  not  found  wanting,  it  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  educational  principle.  But  without 
hypotheses,  world-problems  would  never  be 
solved,  and  the  elementary  boarding-school  ques- 
tion is  as  vitally  important  to  the  few  that  it 
affects,  as  the  public  school  issue  is  to  the  nation 
at  large.  The  great  aim  and  purpose  of  all 
elementary  school  practice,  is  to  lead  the  child  to 
find  himself — to  "  self  -discovery  "  as  Froebel 
would  say — but  this  result  requires  more  than 
the  school  arts  for  its  attainment,  and  it  is  my 
desire  to  prove  in  this  thesis,  that  the  junior 
boarding-school  may  offer  in  the  best  way  for  a 
certain  number,  the  additional  and  essential  fun- 
daments of  education  which  find  definition  and 
discussion  in  the  pages  that  follow. 

HORACE  HOLDEN, 
Director  of  Lower  School. 

Morristown  School, 
Morristown,  New  Jersey. 
September,  1913. 


CONTENTS 

I.    The  Lower  School 17 

II.  The  Boy  from  Seven  to  Fourteen*.  33 

777.    Physical  Education  47 

IV.    Intellectual  Education  58 

V.    Moral  Education  66 

VI.    Social  Education 82 

VII.    The  Day's  Work  91 

F777.     The  Curriculum .  109 

IX.    The  Personnel  of  the  Staff 129 

X.    Location  and  Equipment 140 

XL    The  Economics  of  the  School 150 

XIJ.    Special  Problems  in  the  School 159 


YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 


YOUNG   BOYS   AND 

BOARDING-SCHOOL 

i 

THE  LOWER  SCHOOL 

ONE  view  of  Education,  that  of  its 
externalised  form,  is  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge;  its  inner  aspect  is 
development.  But  it  is  wiser  to  fuse, 
with  a  synthesis  of  both  these  phases,  the  clear, 
constant  hypothesis  that  this  word  development 
shall  not  mean  intellectual  accretion  merely,  but 
shall  include  the  building  of  character,  the  cul- 
tivation of  poise  and  manners,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  a  strong  and  healthy  body  as  well.  This 
fuller  meaning  of  Education  establishes  it  as  a 
life-process  under  which  the  mental,  moral,  social 
and  physical  powers  of  the  individual  must  be 
recognized  as  equally  important,  always  inter- 
dependent, and  one  nature  demanding  the  same 
degree  of  attention  as  another. 

The  school,  as  an  institution  in  particular, 
gives  the  child  his  first  systematised  experiences 
of  his  education.  Up  to  kindergarten  age,  if  not 
beyond  it,  the  boy  has  been  under  the  fortuitous 
influence  of  the  home.  Then  the  first  change 
occurs,  and  his  concept  of  life  broadens  under 

17 


18   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

the  unexpressed  consciousness  of  the  fact  that 
he  is  by  no  means  the  single  autocrat  of  the 
world.  He  begins  to  realise  to  some  extent  the 
mental  tasks  to  be  achieved,  and  he  yearns — if 
unpampered  and  physically  sound — for  strength 
and  build  superior  to  comrades  of  his  own  age. 
At  tbe  age  of  seven  he  is  neither  moral  nor  im- 
moral, but  simply  unmoral,  and  his  character, 
like  h.s  body,  his  brain,  and  his  bearing,  is  in 
the  making.  Hence  the  query :  ' '  How  shall  each 
of  these  be  made  the  best  I M 

If  the  home  environment  is  normal,  so  that  the 
lad  has  that  opportunity  for  country  life  which 
is  every  child's  prerogative,  and  if  the  public 
school  or  the  day-school  of  the  neighborhood  is 
reasonably  good,  the  American  parent  is  apt  to 
assume  that  the  problem  of  the  boy  is  readily 
solved.  Unfortunately,  this  happy  combination 
of  circumstances  does  not  always  obtain,  for  the 
home  conditions  frequently  give  the  lad  a  most 
unsatisfactory  influence  and  surrounding.  The 
mother  may  be  an  invalid,  the  father  irregular, 
domestic  misunderstandings  may  have  occurred,' 
parents  may  be  dead,  and — worse  than  all  else — 
the  boy  may  be  left  first  to  the  care  of  a  nurse 
and  later  to  the  companionship  of  a  chauffeur, 
or  allowed  the  freedom  of  the  streets.  Perhaps 
the  home  may  be  in  the  city,  where,  for  months 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  10 

at  a  time,  the  lad  has  no  chance  for  that  kinship 
with  nature  so  vital  to  his  welfare — no  fields  to 
play  in,  no  woods  to  roam,  no  hills  to  cover,  no 
rivers  to  swim — nothing  but  the  conventional 
activities  and  interests  of  the  city  with  its  per- 
petual rumble  and  rush,  disturbing  to  even  less 
sensitive  adult  life.  Lastly,  there  are  the  dis- 
advantages of  the  public  school,  or  the  private 
day-school,  in  town.  To  the  restricted  life  of  the 
latter,  the  former  adds  a  distressing  mixture  of 
social  classes  acknowledged  even  in  presumably 
democratic  America.  The  discipline  of  the 
public  school,  however  mechanical,  is  apt  to  be 
reasonably  good.  The  building  is  frequently 
more  sanitary  and  better  appointed  than  the 
quarters  of  the  private  school,  for  the  appear- 
ance of  the  institution  is  sure  to  be  the  pride 
of  the  community.  Educational  experiments 
flourish  there  for  they  may  be  tried  out  at  public 
expense.  From  these  the  boy  may  benefit  greatly, 
but  it  seems  as  if  the  services  of  the  public 
school  ended  at  this  point.  In  the  cities  it  is  the 
centre  of  a  juvenile  mass  being  broken  into 
* '  citizenship. "  It  is  the  home  of  ' '  Ain  Vs  "  and 
"He  don  Vs."  It  is  the  court  of  a  tired  woman 
with  fifty  youngsters  within  her  jurisdiction.  It 
is  the  grave  of  individual  development  and 
spontaneity. 


20   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

The  private  day-school  is  better,  especially  the 
one  that  is  located  in  the  country  and  draws  it* 
patronage  from  the  city.  The  classes  are  smaller. 
The  Mother  Tongue  is  more  courteously  treated. 
Each  boy  has  a  chance  to  live,  to  expand,  to 
learn.  He  has  men  for  teachers  no  doubt;  men 
who  are  alert  to  his  interests  and  one  with  him 
in  the  daily  life  of  the  school.  Yet  with  all  these 
things  in  his  favor,  he  still  remains  under  artifi- 
cial conditions  the  greater  portion  of  his  time. 

The  intellectual  development  that  the  private 
day-school  and  the  public  school  both  accom- 
plish may  be  good;  each  makes  an  attempt  at 
physical  training ;  but  in  moral  and  social  educa- 
tion they  can  not  provide  the  constant  environ- 
ment that  contributes  to  success  in  these  direc- 
tions, nor  does  the  home,  irrespective  of  how 
good  its  influence  may  be.  The  day-schools  may 
try  their  best  to  cover  the  four  sides  of  the  boy's 
development,  but  the  facts  still  remain  that  their 
supervision  is  not  continuous  and  that  they  have 
no  exact  way  of  telling  how  widely  the  home 
authority  extends.  And  so,  in  the  period  of 
maximum  mental  plasticity,  in  the  years  between 
seven  and  fourteen,  when  the  foundation  of  a 
robust  constitution  should  be  laid,  with  the  com- 
panionship of  men  whom  he  may  love,  the  cardi- 
nal elements  of  education  should  reach  the  lad 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  SI 

through  a  boarding-school  that  realises  the 
responsibility  of  being  parent  as  well  as  teacher 
of  the  boy. 

No  institution  has  more  cause  for  existence 
and  a  better  right  to  be,  than  the  boarding- 
school  that  can  and  does  fulfil  its  obligations  to 
the  pre-adolescent  lad.  In  this  country,  schools 
of  this  type  at  present  are  rare,  and  their  organ- 
isation and  administration  may  prove  puzzling 
to  the  schoolmaster  who  is  more  or  less  the  novice. 
But  the  elementary  boarding-school  has  a  wide 
future  before  it  in  America,  providing  American 
schoolmen  are  willing  to  learn  from  the  ex- 
amples set  us  abroad — especially  in  the  English 
"Preparatory"  Schools.  In  that  country,  among 
the  many  precedents  established  for  the  conduct 
of  junior  schools,  two  are  of  fundamental  im- 
portance; viz,  the  absolute  separation  of  the 
elementary  from  the  secondary  institutions,  and 
reasonably  small  schools,  in  which  the  personal 
touch  of  the  headmaster  may  be  strong.  In  1900 
there  were,  according  to  Michael  E.  Sadler,  over 
ten  thousand  boys  in  the  four  hundred  odd 
preparatory  schools  of  England;  or  an  overage 
of  twenty -five  lads  to  a  school. 1 

1  Special  Reports  to  Royal  Educ.  Com.  1900. 


22       YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Schools  of  this  type  can  hardly  be  operated 
successfully  and  at  the  same  time  cheaply  in 
America,  where,  for  years,  the  cost  of  living  has 
been  advancing.  Their  charges  then,  are  neces- 
sarily high,  and  it  follows  as  a  natural  sequence 
that  they  must  look  for  their  patronage  among 
the  moneyed  classes.  But  this  is  exactly  the 
element  that  needs  this  manner  of  school,  for 
any  one  who  has  watched  the  various  phases  of 
the  boy  problem,  will  admit  that  the  boarding- 
school  may  find  quite  as  much  missionary  work 
to  accomplish  with  the  neglected  children  of  the 
rich,  as  the  city  public  school  finds  to  do  with  the 
neglected  children  of  the  poor. 

The  secondary  school,  which  takes  the  boy  at 
early  adolescence,  and  in  four  years  fits  him  for 
college,  is  the  connecting  link  between  the  two 
most  important  stages  of  the  boy's  systematised 
educational  experience.  So  much  of  the  boy's 
success  in  the  secondary  school,  and  in  college 
also,  depends  upon  the  habits  fixed  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  fourteen,  that  the  lower  school 
commands  an  ever-increasing  consideration  and 
study. 

While  the  aim  of  education  in  general  has  ever 
been  to  produce  the  perfect  man,  models  of  ex- 
cellence vary  with  the  point  of  view,  and  for  one 
to  criticise  the  position  of  the  lower  school  as  to 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  23 

its  definition  of  educational  aims  and  values,  and 
of  organisation  and  administration,  without 
troubling  to  recognise  its  peculiar  responsi- 
bilities, would  be  unjustifiable  censure.  Its 
problems  need  to  be  solved  in  terms  different 
from  those  of  the  public  school.  Its  questions 
may  command  the  attention  and  co-operation  of 
the  directors  of  public  education,  but  they  should 
not  seek  their  answers.  This  is  the  age  of  special- 
ists, and  the  man  who  controls  the  affairs  of 
some  great  educational  system  is  by  no  means 
an  authority  for  the  man  who  is  devotedly  and 
intimately  directing  the  destinies  of  a  few  young- 
sters within  his  own  little  sphere.  Pedagogically 
speaking,  there  is  no  question  that  certain  broad, 
psychological  principles  underlie  all  successful 
teaching,  but  beyond  these,  which  affect  but  one- 
fourth  at  most  of  the  boy's  life  at  school,  looms 
up  the  personal  equation  of  the  master,  and  the 
school  environment  that  he  establishes.  It  is  one 
thing  for  this  man  to  formulate  and  to  express 
his  ideals.  It  is  another  thing  to  make  them 
effective.  And  yet,  if  the  school  has  no  concep- 
tion at  all  of  what  it  hopes  to  accomplish,  its 
progress  may  only  lead  to  failure.  With  this 
defence  in  mind,  perhaps  a  crude  and  halting 
formulation  of  aims  may  be  presented,  and 
allowed. 


24   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Let  us  first  divest  ourselves  of  the  idea  that 
the  present  craze  for  the  vocational  need  find 
expression  in  this  school.  This  is  true,  because 
it  is  far  from  being  the  function  of  the  school  to 
train  a  mere  child  for  some  specific  occupation  in 
later  life.  Laying  the  foundation  for  complete 
living  is  primarily  a  culture-process.  And  what 
is  Culture?  Dr.  Henderson  tells  us  it  is  "the 
pursuit  of  perfection."1  Who  shall  attempt  to 
fix  an  exact  standard  of  perfection  for  the  boy 
of  ten  or  twelve?  A  general  standard  may  be 
established  however,  and  the  lad's  experience 
directed  in  the  light  thereof,  without  making  him 
a  snob  or  a  Miss  Nancy.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
the  boy  should  never  soil  his  hands,  but  he  should 
be  expected  to  know  what  society  requires  in  the 
matter  of  personal  appearance.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  he  should  read  Terence  and  Plautus  at 
sight,  but  it  is  important  that  he  should  have  a 
fundamental  grasp  of  that  language  from  which 
so  many  of  our  English  words  trace  their  descent. 
He  is  not  called  upon  to  be  a  Sandow,  but  it  is 
indispensable  that  he  should  have  a  wholesome, 
healthy  body,  and  know  how  to  keep  the  same. 
He  may  not  be  called  upon  to  attend  the  Sanc- 

1  Education  and  the  Larger  Life ;   Henderson. 
P.  28. 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  25 

tuary  thrice  of  a  Sabbath  day,  but  it  is  wise  that 
he  should  have  some  conception  of,  and  love  and 
respect  for  the  Absolute,  and  understand  to 
some  extent  his  relation  with  the  Power  that 
governs  the  Universe.  In  short,  the  boy  needs 
such  physical,  mental,  moral  and  social  training, 
and  such  cultivation  of  manners,  as  Professor 
Hanus  says,  "  shall  acquaint  him  with  the  world 
in  which  he  lives  and  the  civilisation  into  which 
he  is  born,  and  of  his  own  relations  to  them,  in- 
cluding his  duties  and  privileges. "  This  train- 
ing the  school  should  give  in  order  to  "  provide 
the  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  child's 
powers — mental  and  moral,  aesthetic,  manual  or 
constructive — through  good  instruction  and  wise 
discipline. ' ' 1 

The  fact  that  the  environment  of  the  school  is 
constant,  imposes  the  heavier  responsibility  upon 
it.  According  to  that  vague  critic — the  General 
Public — if  the  results  the  junior  boarding-school 
accomplish  with  the  boy  are  unsatisfactory,  then 
the  school  is  to  blame.  If  the  boy  turns  out  well, 
then  it  is  because  he  is  naturally  good.  "Un- 
solicited testimonials"  rarely  come  uninvited. 

1  Educational  Aims  and  Educational  Values ; 
Hanus.  P.  17. 


26   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

In  the  boarding-school  as  in  the  day-school, 
the  support  of  the  parents  is  the  corner-stone  of 
success;  yet  in  many  instances — especially  when 
the  school  is  within  a  short  distance  of  the  home 
— the  indulgent  father  or  selfish  mother  attempts 
to  thwart  the  influence  of  the  school  by  con- 
tinued efforts  to  secure  privileges  which  are  out 
of  harmony  with  the  regulations  of  the  school. 

Mr.  Alexander  Devine,  headmaster  of  the 
Clayesmore  School  at  Pangbourne  writes l  : 
"  Doubtless,  the  perfectly  ideal  thing  would  be 
a  home  in  which  the  father  had  leisure  to  devote 
to  the  several  important  sides  of  a  boy's  educa- 
tion, physical,  mental,  moral  (and  social),  and 
from  which  a  boy  could  attend  a  day-school  for 
instruction  purposes;  but  in  these  days  of  high 
tension  and  strenuous  work,  in  how  many  cases 
would  this  be  possible  ? 

''Then,  again,  I  am  personally  of  the  opinion 
that  the  discipline  of  the  home  can  never  be  as 
wholly  effective  as  that  of  the  boarding-school. 
In  my  opinion  this  constitutes  the  gravest  peril, 
and  is  quite  enough  in  itself  to  condemn  the  day- 
school  principle,  however  ideally  excellent  it  may 
be.  The  petting  at  home,  the  exaggeration  of  the 

1  Westminster  Gazette,  London,  November  6th, 
1911.  P.  14. 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  27 

slightest  ailment  into  something  serious,  the 
home  luxury  and  indulgence,  all  constitute  to  my 
mind,  the  most  serious  menace  to  the  national 
character. 

' '  Further,  there  is  the  value  of  a  boy 's  learn- 
ing at  an  early  age  to  carry  himself  decently  with 
his  fellows  and  to  consider  the  '  community. '  All 
this  would,  of  course,  be  lacking  to  a  considerable 
extent  under  a  day-school  system. 

"I  once  asked  the  headmaster  of  one  of  our 
largest  grammar-schools  to  be  allowed  to  address 
the  school  with  the  object  of  endeavoring  to  es- 
tablish a  School  Mission,  and  I  remember  so  well 
his  reply :  *  We  are  only  a  day-school,  and  there 
is  very  little  corporate  feeling;  the  boys  simply 
come  here  to  be  taught,  and  forthwith  go  away'." 

This  shows  that  our  British  cousins  are  not 
only  alive  to  the  four  phases  of  the  boy's  educa- 
tion already  enumerated,  but  that  they  also  ap- 
preciate the  fact  that  the  school  should  have 
another  aim — that  of  developing  the  boy  as  a 
whole;  to  see  that  his  progress  intellectually, 
physically,  morally  and  socially  contributes 
toward  leadership  and  executive  ability,  toward 
helpfulness  to  others  and  good  fellowship.  The 
lad  who  attends  the  junior  boarding-school  is 
without  doubt  favored  by  fortune  in  respect  to 
means,  position  in  society  and  birth.  If  the 


23   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

school  does  not  train  him  so  that  he  may  make 
best  use  of  his  privileges,  then  it  fails  to  fulfil 
one  of  its  most  important  functions.  It  is  im- 
possible for  the  day-school  to  give  the  boy  that 
individual  care  that  is  necessary  he  should  have 
in  early  life  to  insure  cultivation  in  later  years ; 
and  the  boarding-school  must  take  advantage  of 
this  fact  with  others,  in  order  to  secure  its 
patronage  and  maintain  its  existence. 

The  English  schoolmen  also  recognise  the  fact 
that  the  junior  boarding-school  must  be  kept 
small,  so  that,  in  the  first  place,  the  lad  will  not 
feel  too  much  the  rigidity  of  institutional  life, 
and  in  the  second  place,  so  that  personal  watch 
may  be  kept  of  him  during  the  formative  period. 
These  educators  regard  their  vocation  more  pro- 
fessionally than  the  American  school  proprietor 
who  feels  that  a  school  for  fifty  boys  may  be  run 
as  cheaply  as  one  for  twenty-five.  It  would  be 
cheap  without  a  question.  When  cultural  rather 
than  financial  motives  can  determine  the  policy 
of  the  school,  there  is  hope  for  results — both  for 
the  character  and  equipment  of  the  boy  pro- 
duced, and  for  the  stability  of  the  school  itself. 

The  prospectus  of  Huntingdon  House  l  epit- 

1 1908  Prospectus,  Huntingdon  House,  Ted- 
dington,  Middlesex. 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  II 

omises  the  aim  of  the  English  preparatory  school 
in  a  few  well-chosen  words:  "Every  effort  is 
made  to  combine  the  habits  of  a  good  home  with 
the  discipline  of  school  life,  and  to  foster  and 
develop  that  self-respect  and  sense  of  responsi- 
bility without  which  boys  cannot  grow  up  into 
good  men.  The  classes  are  kept  small  so  that 
the  boys  receive  considerable  individual  atten- 
tion in  their  work,  and  mere  'cram'  is  dis- 
couraged. The  aim  of  the  school  is  to  lay  a 
sound  foundation  of  elementary  knowledge, 
which  will  best  fit  a  boy  for  his  future  career. 
The  individual  requirements  however  of  the  vari- 
ous Public  Schools  (i.  e.  the  great  secondary 
schools  of  England:  Eton,  Rugby,  Harrow,  ct 
al. )  have  careful  attention. ' '  And  further  on  in 
this  booklet  the  school's  ambition  in  athletics  is 
treated  in  the  most  practical  manner. 

How  closely  the  junior  boarding-school  in 
America  copies  its  English  prototype  in  the  for- 
mulation of  its  aims,  is  indicated  by  the  follow- 
ing introduction  to  the  catalogue  of  one  of  the 
few,  and  certainly  one  of  the  best,  boarding- 
schools  of  this  type  in  America.  Its  object  is 
"to  prepare  boys  to  begin  and  prosecute  success- 
fully the  work  of  secondary  schools.  .  .  ,.  . 

.    .    . Experience    has 

proved  that  intellectual  power  and  strength  of 


30      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

character  depend  upon  exact  early  training  and 
discipline,  and,  with  a  sound  body,  become  the 
most  valuable  acquisition  which  a  boy  can  have. 
It  is  the  aim  of  this  school,  therefore,  to  train 
a  boy  along  the  right  lines  from  the  beginning, 
to  teach  him  how  to  study  and  form  correct 
habits  of  work,  and  to  inculcate  the  principles 
which  are  to  regulate  his  daily  conduct  and 
guide  his  future  life. ' ' 

The  junior  boarding-school  commands,  then, 
an  extensive  range  of  influences  wherewith  to 
make  its  aims  effective,  for  it  has  greater  author- 
ity than  the  day-school,  it  has  the  constant  sur- 
veillance of  its  pupils,  and  it  stands  "in  loco 
parentis"  as  well.  A  detailed  survey  of  a  prac- 
tical plan  for  the  organisation  and  administra- 
tion of  a  junior  boarding-school  under  American 
conditions,  should  commend  itself  to  all  private 
schoolmen  who  are  interested  in  pre-adolescent 
boys.  Their  views  must  necessarily  vary,  and 
may  fail  to  coincide  in  many  respects  with  the 
scheme  that  this  book  presents.  But  the 
criticism  that  stimulates  a  deeper  interest  in 
this  comparatively  new  educational  field  in 
America,  can  only  be  beneficial.  The  aims  of 
the  junior  boarding-school  already  expressed, 
constitute  the  basis  upon  which  the  structure  of 
the  management  and  operation  is  to  be  built. 


THE  LOWER  SCHOOL  31 

By  no  means  final,  the  aims  form  at  least  a 
" working  hypothesis,"  an  attempt  to  unite  the 
practical  with  the  ideal — a  map  to  guide  the 
American  educator  along  a  rather  uncharted 
course. 

Because  the  attendance  at  our  free  grammar 
schools  is  so  vast  compared  with  the  relatively 
few  boys  under  fourteen  in  the  American  board- 
ing-schools, there  is  no  reason  why,  for  himself 
if  for  no  one  else,  the  private  school  boy  should 
not  benefit  from  an  educational  plan  as  care- 
fully worked  out  as  that  under  which  the  public 
school  lad  is  cared  for.  And  when  it  is  borne 
in  mind  that  the  private  school  boy  is  destined 
in  almost  every  case,  to  become  a  member  of  the 
directing  class,  it  is  all  the  more  imperative  that, 
at  an  early  age,  his  training  should  be  such  as 
will  tend  to  produce  a  man  of  probity  and 
responsibility  in  years  to  come. 

The  junior  boarding-school  should  not  assume 
the  role  of  a  penal  institution.  It  does  not  follow 
that  it  should  be  one,  because  in  some  instances 
it  may  accept  boys  who  have  been  unmanageable 
in  their  homes.  Parents  are  usually  the  farthest 
from  understanding  their  children,  and  they 
who  realise  their  deficiency,  and,  having  the 
means  to  send  their  son  to  a  proper  boarding- 
school,  fail  to  do  so,  are  very  far  from  fulfilling 


32   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

their  parental  duties  by  the  boy.  The  junior 
school  is  the  place  for  habit  forming,  not  re- 
forming, and  the  headmaster  should  have  that 
object  in  view  when  accepting  boys  for  registra- 
tion. It  is  not  difficult  however,  to  observe  in  a 
personal  interview,  whether  the  parent  or  the  boy 
is  at  fault.  One's  decision  may  be  governed  ac- 
cordingly, and  with  the  lad  once  registered,  the 
school's  problem  becomes  prophylactic  rather 
than  therapeutic. 


II 

THE  BOY  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN 

IT  is  as  important  to  fit  the  curriculum  to 
the  individual  as  it  is  impossible  to  fit  every 
individual  to  an  inflexible  curriculum.    Yet 
it  seems  logical  to  conclude  that  too  liberal 
an    adaptation    of    conditions   to   the   person, 
destroys  an  appreciation  of  the  significance  of 
unity  and  precludes  a  proper  ( l  esprit  de  corps. ' ' 
The  problem  that  arises  then,  is  that  of  striking 
the  happy  medium  through  which  the  boy  shall 
have  every  opportunity  extended  to  him  for  in- 
dividual, self -active  development,  and  still  shall 
be  able  to  appreciate  his  obligations  to  his  asso- 
ciates and  to  his  environment. 

The  boy  whom  we  meet  in  the  junior  or  sub- 
preparatory  school,  is  the  present  object  of  con- 
sideration. It  is  paramount,  therefore,  to  view 
his  physical,  mental,  moral  and  social  capacities 
during  his  second  cycle — that  is,  during  the 
years  between  seven  and  fourteen — before  set- 
ting a  definite  programme  to  be  lived  out  within 
that  period. 

According  to  Dr.  Hall,  the  boy,  during  this 
second  cycle,  passes  the  period  of  acute  dentition, 
33 


34   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

his  health  without  doubt  is  at  its  highest  point, 
his  brain  has  nearly  attained  adult  size,  his  ac- 
tivity is  at  its  maximum  degree  of  vivacity  and 
extent.  His  natural  interests  are  quite  indepen- 
dent of  adult  influence.  "Perception  is  very 
acute,  and  there  is  great  immunity  to  exposure, 
danger,  accident,  as  well  as  to  temptation. 
Reason,  true  morality,  religion,  sympathy,  love 
and  aesthetic  enjoyment  are  but  very  slightly 
developed  .  .  .  The  child  revels  in  savagery ; 
and  if  his  tribal,  predatory,  hunting,  fishing, 
fighting,  roving,  idle,  playing  proclivities  could 
be  indulged  in  the  country  and  under  new  con- 
ditions that  now,  alas!  seem  hopelessly  ideal, 
they  could  conceivably  be  so  organised  and  di- 
rected as  to  be  far  more  truly  humanistic  and 
liberal  than  all  that  the  best  modern  school  can 
provide  .  .  .  Never  again  will  there  be  such 
susceptibility  to  drill  and  discipline,  such  plas- 
ticity to  habituation,  or  such  ready  adjustment 
to  new  conditions. "  l 

These  assertions  savor  of  Froebelian  prin- 
ciples, and  point  still  further  back  to  Rousseau, 
yet  perhaps  they  are  more  vigorously  and  prac- 
tically expressed.  They  do  not  question  the  fact 
that  natural  self-activity  is  the  true  potential 

1  Youth;  Dr.  Q.  Stanley  HalL    P.  2,  3. 


THE  BOY  PROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      36 

power  of  the  child's  development,  and  yet  they 
indicate  with  equal  force  the  necessity  of  utilis- 
ing sense-impressions  during  the  plastic  period 
as  the  source  of  his  kenetic  energy. 

At  this  time  of  a  boy's  life,  the  large  motor- 
muscles  may  be  taxed  with  greater  safety  than 
the  tiny  accessory  muscles.  Too  minute  work  is 
apt  to  arrest  the  development  of  the  more  deli- 
cate organs;  yet  many  occupations,  and  forms 
of  athletics,  consider  the  fundamental  muscles  to 
the  unfortunate  exclusion  of  the  smaller  ones. 
The  automisms,  namely,  the  habitual  nervous  ac- 
tions of  childhood,  indicate  difficulty  of  tasks 
and  show  fatigue.  Abundant  and  vigorous 
automisms  should  be  expected  in  the  boy,  but 
the  instructor  should  be  psychologist  enough  to 
differentiate  between  the  natural  and  the  un- 
natural, to  treat  each  class  in  its  proper  way, 
and  to  be  irritated  by  neither. 

The  natural  automisms  of  the  boy  should  yield 
to  the  inhibition  of  adolescense,  and  thus  become 
organised  under  the  control  of  the  will.  Before 
the  approach  of  puberty  says  Hall,  "the  efferent 
patterns  should  be  developed  into  many  more  or 
less  indelible  habits  and  their  colors  set  fast."1 

1  Youth ;  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall.    P.  21. 


36   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Hence  the  necessity  of  beginning  motor  special- 
ties in  childhood  that  require  exactness  and 
grace,  e.  g.,  piano-playing,  drawing,  writing, 
dancing,  the  pronounciation  of  a  foreign  tongue, 
etc.,  etc.  On  the  other  hand,  an  excess  of  un- 
natural automisms  indicates  the  atypic  child, 
who  needs  particular  care  and  treatment  beyond 
the  scope  of  the  average  lower  school. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  best  physical 
and  mental  growth  may  obtain,  and  co-ordinately 
where  the  moral  and  social  progress  may  be 
equally  well  assured,  are  not  to  be  found  amid 
the  restrictions  of  a  city  school  nor  under  the 
artificial  conditions  of  a  city  home.  Beneath 
the  clear  blue  sky  of  the  country,  life  to  the  boy 
is  normal  and  worth  living.  There  he  has  the 
unhampered  opportunity  to  live  out  the  history 
of  the  race,  under  such  surveillance  as  will  assure 
his  complete  capacity  for  culture. 

The  phases  of  this  period  of  the  second  cycle, 
are  too  broad  in  their  aspects  however,  to  permit 
of  a  fixed  school  routine  adaptible  to  them  all. 
The  boy  at  seven,  at  ten,  and  at  fourteen,  needs 
different  care  and  thought.  The  years  from 
seven  to  nine  may  really  be  considered  as  belong- 
ing to  later  childhood,  from  ten  to  twelve  meaD 
boyhood  pure  and  simple,  while  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  years  bring  in  the  time  of  puber- 


THE  EOT  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      37 

ty.  The  junior  boarding-school  may  plan  to  ac- 
cept boys  at  the  age  of  seven,  but  it  will  be  a  long 
time  before  the  American  parent  will  feel  justi- 
fied in  sending  a  boy  away  to  school  who  is  under 
ten.  And  indeed,  it  is  quite  right  that  the 
mother  should  remain  the  sovereign  of  childhood, 
providing  that  she  rules  wisely  and  well,  and  is 
broad  enough  to  acknowledge  and  encourage  the 
influence  of  the  father  in  the  training  and  con- 
fidence of  the  boy.  The  mother  must  co-operate 
with  the  day-school  of  the  district,  if  the  boy  up 
to  that  age  has  not  been  in  the  hands  of  a  tutor 
or  a  governess.  "In  later  childhood  the  interest 
which  he  expresses  through  kindergarten  years 
dies  out,  and  the  primary  school  work  is  prone 
to  verge  on  failure.  Sometimes  the  lad  learns 
to  read  with  avidity,  again  the  lower  multipli- 
cation tables  come  without  seeming  effort,  but 
on  the  whole  the  boy 's  interests  lie  elsewhere. ' ' 1 
His  teacher,  preferably  a  woman,  unless  a  man 
can  be  found  who  embodies  intuition,  patience, 
and  long-suffering,  must  ever  encourage  him,  and 
be  satisfied  with  small  results.  It  is  ill-advised  to 
compel  a  very  strong  perseverence,  as  that  might 
work  more  harm  than  good  to  the  child's  im- 
mature nervous  system.  Impulsiveness,  restless- 

1  Growth  and  Education;  Tyler.  P.  144. 


38   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

ness,  suggestion  and  imitation  are  at  this  age, 
the  powerful  factors  of  his  mental  composition, 
for  the  higher  intellectual  powers  are  hardly  in 
evidence  before  the  next  stage;  i.  e.,  the  years 
from  ten  to  twelve.  In  later  childhood,  the  boy 
finds  it  easy  to  commit  lessons  to  memory,  but 
he  fails  to  comprehend  reason,  and  hence  the 
admonition:  Don't  argue  with  a  child. 

In  " Growth  and  Education,"  John  M.  Tyler 
says:  "He  (the  boy)  thinks  much,  but  he  thinks 
as  a  child.  He  is  gathering  the  material  out  of 
which  he  will  later  frame  the  ideal  plan  and 
structure  of  his  life  and  work.  But  the  mate- 
rial will  take  form  and  life  after  adolescence. ' ' l 

The  point  is,  to  have  the  boy  of  this  age  out 
of  doors  and  surrounded  with  natural  objects  to 
stir  his  curiosity,  test  his  strength,  gauge  his  in- 
genuity, and  train  him  to  take  the  initiative  in 
thought  and  action — in  other  words  to  continue 
a  "following  education"  for  a  few  years  beyond 
the  kindergarten  era.  The  private  teacher,  the 
home  day-school,  or  the  sub-preparatory  board- 
ing-school as  the  case  may  be,  should  work  and 
teach  in  general  supplementation  to  this  wide 
stimulation  of  the  areas  and  powers  of  the  brain. 

1  Growth  and  Education ;  Tyler.  Pp.  144-148 
(condensed). 


THE  BOY  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      39 

During  this  period  of  later  childhood,  the  lad 
may  acquire  unfortunate  idioms,  careless  habits, 
and  other  reflex  actions — habits  of  speech  and 
thought  and  deed — which  are  apt  to  become  so 
fixed  as  to  influence  his  entire  life.  These  im- 
pressions are  often  lasting  enough  to  be  remem- 
bered consciously  at  an  advanced  age,  and  deep 
enough  to  be  mistaken  for  hereditary  traits. 
The  lessons  in  obedience  and  habit-forming 
which  the  boy  receives  as  a  child  may  be  misun- 
derstood or  forgotten,  but  the  habits  will  be  per- 
manently fixed.  It  is  indeed  a  task  to  inculcate 
neatness,  punctuality,  self-control,  courtesy, 
truthfulness,  reverence,  and  the  like;  yet  the 
fact  that  the  task  is  Herculean,  does  not  remit 
its  necessity. 

Boyhood's  years,  from  ten  to  twelve  inclusive, 
form  the  time  of  re-awakening  mental  activity. 
The  lad,  though  still  somewhat  of  a  stranger  to 
reason,  is  able  to  grasp  and  employ  certain 
elementary  forms  of  logical  analysis,  the  exposi- 
tion of  arithmetical  problems  for  example,  if 
concrete  in  content.  He  realises  that  he  has  com- 
petitors, and  if  normal,  he  strives  good-natured- 
ly in  every  way  to  excel.  This  effort  is  made 
however,  more  with  the  idea  of  the  glory  of 
record  and  of  leadership,  than  for  the  thought  of 
working  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  knowledge. 


40   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

But  in  the  line  of  athletics,  he  appreciates  the 
increase  of  strength  and  agility  which  is  to  set 
him  above  his  fellows.  In  both  instances,  the 
ends  unquestionably  justify  the  means.  The 
habits  formed  in  earlier  years,  now  re-enforce 
themselves  and  start  to  bear  fruit.  Physically, 
the  boy  begins  a  rapid  growth  towards  the  close 
of  these  three  years.  The  bones  enlarge  and 
lengthen  faster  in  proportion  than  the  muscles 
and  the  internal  organs.  Hence  the  danger  of 
the  lad  outgrowing  his  strength.  While  nature 
will  not  over-exert  itself  if  left  alone,  caution 
should  be  used  in  allowing  boys  of  this  age  to 
engage  too  promiscuously  in  heavy  athletics  and 
apparatus-gymnastics.  Calisthenics  are  better 
than  vaulting,  and  climbing  trees  than  all  the 
trapezes  ever  constructed. 

The  plea  for  ample  outdoor  life  for  the  boy 
from  seven  to  nine,  on  the  basis  of  allowing 
natural  opportunities  for  the  extension  of  his 
experiences  and  interests,  is  repeated  for  the 
boy  of  ten  to  twelve.  But  this  time  it  is  on  the 
ground  that  during  these  years  he  must  store  up 
all  possible  energy— energy  never  gained  in  the 
schoolroom  however  clever  intellectually  the  boy 
may  be — against  the  lean  years  of  puberty.  This 
is  an  age  of  boisterous  boyhood,  of  "  gangs "  and 
of  daring  deeds.  The  lad  needs  well-regulated 


THE  BOY  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      41 

hours  of  sleep,  of  study,  and  of  open-air  life. 
He  needs  companions  of  his  own  age  and  sex 
and  position.  All  these  conditions  the  junior 
boarding-school  can  satisfy.  With  these,  it 
should  blend  the  loving  influence  and  watchful 
care  of  the  best  of  homes.  A  vigorous  red- 
blooded  boy  resents  any  one  " tagging  around" 
after  him,  and  most  properly  so,  and  thus  his 
recreations  are  in  need  of  tactful  supervision. 
Under-surveillance  is  preferable  to  over-surveil- 
lance if  the  latter  serves  to  encourage  secretive- 
ness — a  quality  which  in  the  first  instance  is 
natural  with  the  boy  if  we  hold  to  the  race- 
capitulation  theory  and  realise  the  need  of  se- 
cretiveness  on  the  part  of  primitive  man;  yet 
encouraged,  this  trait  becomes  the  source  of 
many  vices. 

In  his  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  years,  the 
normal  time  for  pubic  growth  in  this  latitude, 
the  boy  experiences  the  most  rapid  development 
of  all  his  second  cycle.  The  functioning  of  sex 
centres  his  thoughts  more  particularly  on  phases 
of  life  which  before,  had  either  been  practically 
absent  from  his  mind,  or  else  had  been  differently 
conceived  of.  His  inquisitiveness  is  perfectly 
natural,  and  should  be  as  naturally  satisfied,  if 
not  by  his  parents,  at  least  by  the  master  who 
is  his  confidant  and  friend.  The  differences  and 


42   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

meanings  of  sex  if  made  a  mystery,  only  whet 
prurient  curiousity. 

The  following  table  presents  statistics  of  Bos- 
ton schoolboys  made  several  years  ago  by  Dr. 
Bowditch. l  The  figures  establish  no  norms  for 
the  boarding-school  lad,  who,  very  likely,  finds 
more  fortunate  conditions  of  life  to-day,  yet  the 
table  services  to  indicate  in  a  way  what  may  be 
expected  in  physical  growth  during  the  years 
from  seven  to  fourteen. 

Annual  Increase  Chest 


Age,  last 
birthday 

Height 
inches 

Weight 
pounds 

Height 
inches 

Weight 
pounds 

Girth 
inches 

7 

46.21 

49.47 





22.54 

8 

48.16 

54.43 

1.95 

4.96 

23.09 

9 

50.09 

59.97 

1.93 

5.54 

23.79 

10 

52.21 

66.62 

2.12 

6.63 

24.08 

11 

54.01 

72.39 

1.80 

5.77 

24.34 

12 

55.78 

79.82 

1.77 

7.43 

24.93 

13  58.17        88.26        2.39        8.44        25.24 

14  61.08        99.28        2.91      11.02        26.28 

A  glance  at  this  table  shows  the  rapidity  of 
the  boy's  physical  growth  during  pubescent 
years.  The  development  of  the  brain  at  this 
period  is  somewhat  retarded,  for  it  yields  sover- 

1  Study  of  Children ;  Dr.  Francis  Warner. 
Pp.  31,  32,  33. 


THE  BOY  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      43 

eign  activity  to  the  body.  Here  then,  comes  the 
plea  once  more  for  that  vigorous  out-of-door  life 
that  is  to  supply  the  tissue-building  oxygen, 
which  in  turn  assures  a  sound  body  for  a  sound 
mind.  If  the  boarding-school  boy  does  not  at 
least  come  up  to  the  standard  set  by  the  day- 
school  pupil,  enquiry  should  be  made  as  to  the 
cause  of  his  deficiency.  "It  may  be  on  account 
of  inadequate  food  and  clothing,  of  injury  and 
disease,  of  over-stimulation  or  under-stimulation 
of  environment,  of  artificial  restraint,  or  of  racial 
influence. ' ' 1  And  it  may  be  because  of  per- 
sonal abuse.  This  evil  extends  more  widely  than 
the  majority  of  parents  realise  or  the  average 
school-master  knows.  Dr.  Edmund  Owen  says 
that  "  Probably  the  baneful  effect  of  the  prac- 
tice has  been  considerably  exaggerated.  In  re- 
viewing the  question  Sir  John  Paget  remarks, 
that  when  practiced  frequently  by  the  very 
young,  that  is,  at  any  time  before  or  at  the  be- 
ginning of  puberty,  masturbation  is  quite  likely 
to  produce  exhaustion  and  nervousness,  and  that 
these  mischiefs  are  nearly  sure  to  happen  if  the 
excesses  be  practiced  by  those  who  are  liable  to 
epilepsy,  or  any  other  form  of  nervous  disease. 

1  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child ;    Rowe.     Pp. 
117,  118. 


44      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Mr.  Lawson  Tait  writes:  'I  have  always  found 
the  chief  difficulty  to  be  that  of  persuading  those 
who  have  charge  of  schools  that  the  practice  was 
a  physical  delinquency  rather  than  a  moral  evil ; 
and  that  the  best  remedy  was  not  to  tell  the  poor 
children  that  they  were  damning  their  souls,  but 
to  tell  them  that  they  might  seriously  hurt  their 
bodies,  and  to  explain  to  them  the  nature  and 
purport  of  the  functions  they  were  abusing.' 
Lucas  attributes  the  association  of  flat  feet  and 
weak  ankles,  together  with  albuminuria  coming 
on  at  about  puberty,  to  the  effects  of  peripheral 
excitement. ' ' 1  As  to  treatment  for  this  trouble, 
Dr.  Owen  adds:  "If  there  be  the  slightest  indi- 
cation, the  boy  should  be  circumcised;  or  his 
bladder  may  be  searched  from  time  to  time  for  a 
possible  calculus  ....  The  child  should 
not  be  allowed  to  eat  for  some  hours  before  going 
to  bed,  and  he  should  get  up  early  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  bed  clothing  should  be  light  and  the 
mattress  hard. ' '  * 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  headmaster 
of  every  sub-preparatory  boarding-school  will 
find  a  certain  percentage  of  his  boys  below  nor- 
mal standards.  It  is  within  the  power  of  this 

1  Surgical  Diseases  of  Children ;  Owen.  Pp. 
271,  270. 


THE  BOY  FROM  SEVEN  TO  FOURTEEN      45 

type  of  school  to  raise  all  such  pupils  to  the 
proper  standard.  Adequate  nourishment  and 
sufficient  fresh  air  both  by  day  and  night  con- 
tribute much  to  this  elevation.  Anthropometric 
measurements  should  be  made  of  the  boys  at  fixed 
intervals,  and  yearly  tests  taken  of  their  sight 
and  hearing.  The  condition  of  lungs,  heart  and 
kidneys  can  be  ascertained  at  the  sam6  time. 
Mental  irregularities,  to  say  nothing  of  moral 
and  social,  come  to  the  surface  as  the  work  with 
the  boy  proceeds;  but  these  are  of  such  variety 
and  degree  as  to  lie  beyond  the  range  of  this  im- 
mediate discussion.  They  should  however,  be 
borne  in  mind  in  fixing  the  routine,  curriculum, 
and  discipline  for  the  boy.  The  school  has  not 
only  to  promote  the  best  all-round  development 
of  its  average  student,  but  of  the  boy  above  or 
below  the  normal  standard  as  well. 

An  abridgement  of  certain  ideas  which  John 
Mason  Tyler  expresses  in  "Growth  and  Educa- 
tion," will  serve  to  summarise  this  chapter. 

"During  the  primary  and  intermediate  years, 
we  are  dealing  with  boys  in  the  stage  of  prepara- 
tion for  the  pubertal  metamorphosis.  They 
resemble  adults  about  as  closely  as  caterpillars 
resemble  butterflies.  Their  chief  business  is  to 
grow  and  to  store  np  material  and  vitality.  They 
have  few  intellectual  interests.  It  is  predomin- 


46   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

antly  a  motor  period.  Muscular  exercise  is  essen- 
tial to  stimulate  digestion,  assimilation,  and 
healthy  growth. 

"The  curriculum  of  each  form  must  be  suited 
to  the  stage  of  development  and  the  needs  of  the 
boy  or  youth.  The  needs  of  the  child,  and  the 
boy,  and  the  youth,  are  quite  different.  The  cur- 
riculum, and  the  system  and  mode  of  education, 
must  differ  correspondingly.  The  immediate  end 
and  purpose  of  the  work  in  each  grade  is  peculiar 
and  unique.  What  would  be  useful  and  bene- 
ficent in  the  upper  school  may  be  harmful  in  the 
lower,  and  vice  versa.  In  no  one  of  these  forms 
is  the  boy  like  a  man.  In  the  lower  forms  he 
differs  so  completely  that  we  may  easily  fail 
altogether  to  understand  his  constitution,  condi- 
tion, and  needs.  The  more  the  child  differs  from 
us,  the  greater  is  our  difficulty  in  framing  a 
course  of  exercise  suited  to  his  stage  of  growth 
and  development.  A  good  curriculum  for  the 
child  in  the  primary  forms  will  probably  appear 
entirely  childish  and  useless  to  the  average  adult 
mind.  Until  we  recognise  these  facts  we  can  not 
hope  to  gain  the  co-operation  of  Nature  in  our 
efforts  to  obtain  strong  and  efficient  men."  * 


1  Growth  and  Education ;  Tyler. 


Ill 

PHYSICAL  EDUCATION 

AS  the  boy's  physical,  mental,  moral 
and  social  natures  have  been  assumed 
worthy  of  equal  care  and  thought,  no 
importance  can  be  specially  attached 
to  the  order  in  which  these  natures  are  discussed. 
The  sequence  which  has  been  adhered  to  how- 
ever, is  rather  the  natural  order.  The  child,  first 
of  all  is  a  physical  being;  soon  he  expresses  his 
power  for  mental  development,  and  later,  of 
moral  distinction.  His  social  instinct  is  in  many 
ways  the  last  to  appear,  and  his  preparation  for 
participation  in  society  extends  nominally 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  school  and  college 
career.  So  with  this  justification  of  the  order, 
the  boy's  physical  education  should  first  be  dealt 
with. 

Froebel  has  said  that  "It  does  not  follow  that 
the  man,  especially  in  boyhood,  knows  his  body, 
because  it  is  so  near  to  him,  nor  that  he  can  use 
his  limbs  because  that  they  are  one  with  him. 
We  often  hear  boys  admonished  not  to  be  so 
awkward,  and  this  particularly  in  walks  of  life 

47 


48   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

that  do  not  pay  regular  attention  to  all-sided 
bodily  activity  in  childhood  and  early  boyhood. 

"We  see  that  men  in  whom  the  culture  of 
mind  and  body  have  not  kept  pace  with  each 
other,  at  certain  times  and  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances, do  not  know  what  to  do  with  their 
body.  Nay,  many  a  one  seems  to  feel  his  body 
and  his  limbs  to  be  a  burden  to  himself. 

"The  occasional  cultivation  of  the  body  in 
domestic  occupations  may  do  much  to  remedy 
this.  But  in  almost  all  cases  this  is  very  subor- 
dinate, and  generally  exercises  the  body  only 
one-sidedly.  Besides,  a  man  is  to  know  not  only 
his  power  but  also  the  means  for  applying  it; 
and  this  can  be  attained  only  by  means  of  an  all- 
sided,  equal  cultivation  of  the  body  and  its  parts 
as  the  medium  and  expression  of  mental  culture. 

"An  active,  vigorous  body,  in  all  conditions 
and  pursuits  of  life,  and  a  dignified  bearing  and 
attitude  of  the  body,  can  only  result  from  all- 
sided  cultivation  of  the  body,  as  bearer  of  the 
mind.  Surely  a  great  deal  of  rudeness,  ill- 
mannerliness,  and  impropriety  would  disappear 
from  boyhood,  and  corresponding  admonitions 
would  become  less  frequent,  if  we  gave  our  boys 
regular,  all-sided  bodily  training,  proceeding 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  based  on  their 
mental  culture,  and  keeping  pace  with  it 


PHYSICAL   EDUCATION  49 

"The  will,  as  such,  does  not  yet  control  the 
body  at  all  times;  therefore;  the  body  should  be 
enabled  to  obey  the  mind  implicitly  at  all  times, 
as  in  the  case  of  a  musical  performer.  Without 
such  cultivation  of  the  body,  education  can  never 
attain  its  object,  which  is  perfect  human  culture. 
Therefore,  the  body,  like  the  mind,  should  in 
this  respect  pass  through  a  true  school,  though 
not  in  a  one-sided  manner;  and  regular  physical 
exercises,  proceeding  from  the  simple  to  the  com- 
plex, based  on  the  mental  development,  are  a 
proper  subject  of  instruction  in  every  school. 

"But  bodily  exercises  have  yet  another  im- 
portant side;  they  lead  the  human  being  (here 
the  boy)  subsequently  to  a  vivid  knowledge  of 
the  inner  structure  of  his  body ;  for  the  boy  feels 
with  special  vividness  the  inner  mutual  connec- 
tion in  the  activity  of  his  members.  These  per- 
ceptions, aided  only  by  tolerably  good  sketches  of 
the  inner  structure  of  man,  must  lead  to  the  vivid 
knowledge  of  this  structure,  and  induce,  at  least, 
a  living  interest  in  the  care  and  consideration  of 
the  body."1 

This  is  a  platform  upon  which  the  humanists 
of  the  Renaissance  unite  with  the  humanists  of 

^roebel's  Education  of  Man;  Hailmann. 
Pp.  248,  249,  250. 


(0      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

to-day,  who  hold  that  the  real  purpose  of  physical 
education  is  to  learn  respect  for  the  body,  and  ft 
knowledge,  a  cultivation,  and  a  control  of  it.  It 
is  not  meant  that  the  little  boy  should  have  the 
muscles  or  weight  of  a  giant,  but  that  his  growth 
should  be  normal,  his  health  perfect,  and  his 
body  pure,  supple  and  graceful — one  for  which 
he  need  have  no  shame.  Yet  the  featuring  of 
physical  education  should  not  be  so  pronounced 
as  to  produce  too  much  consideration  of  self, 
for  the  less  a  lad's  thoughts  are  consciously 
directed  to  his  physical  welfare,  the  less  likely 
he  is  to  fall  heir  to  the  ills  of  the  flesh. 

In  connection  with  ills,  so  many  of  the  or- 
dinary indispositions  of  boyhood  are  traceable  to 
irregularity  of  the  bowels,  that  it  is  necessary  to 
note  the  first  insurance  against  petty  maladies 
in  the  school,  is  to  be  certain  that  the  boy  has  a 
fixed  time  each  day  for  a  passage.  This,  prefer- 
ably, should  come  after  breakfast,  and  the 
schedule  of  the  day  so  arranged,  and  other  in- 
terests so  postponed,  as  to  allow  nothing  to  inter- 
fere with  its  regularity.  The  greater  diseases 
have  no  cause  to  occur  at  school  at  all,  and  it  i» 
a  well-established  fact,  that  measles,  mumps, 
chicken-pox,  etc.,  never  break  out  in  the  middle 
or  at  the  close  of  a  term,  but  always  at  the  begin- 


PHYSICAL    EDUCATION  II 

ning,  which  really  shows  how  dangerous  vaca- 
tions are! 

The  table  on  page  42,  indicates  that  a  boy's 
growth  is  not  constant  from  year  to  year.  Each 
system  or  part  of  his  body  has  its  own  particular 
period  of  rapid  increase.  Physical  development 
suffers  at  the  expense  of  intellectual,  and  vice 
versa,  so  there  is  still  hope  for  the  over-grown 
boy  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  who  has  not  yet 
"wakened  up." 

We  depend  chiefly  upon  the  muscles  to  guar- 
antee healthy  adult  life.  In  the  play  of  the  boy, 
the  heavy  muscles  re-act  upon  the  vital  organs 
and  stimulate  their  development.  As  has  already 
been  shown,  the  boy  up  to  and  through  his  later 
childhood  is  distinctly  a  motor  being.  He  learns 
more  or  less  fortuitously,  stores  facts  gained 
from  experiences  in  his  mind,  and  draws  them 
forth  to  organise  them  at  a  later  age.  Puberty 
comes  later  to  the  boy  who  leads  an  active  life 
in  the  open  air,  away  from  undue  nervous  stimu- 
lation or  excitement.  It  is  well  to  postpone  this 
period  as  long  as  possible  and  to  allow  the  lad 
to  store  up  all  available  resources  against  that 
time  of  bodily  re-adjustment.  The  morbidity 
that  the  boy  may  experience  at  this  period,  may 
be  attributed  to  the  depressing  of  his  nervous 
owing  to  the  deflection  of  all  his  energy 


52   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

towards  physical  growth,  and  to  the  consequent 
lowered  vitality  of  the  body.  A  larger  lung 
capacity,  and  more  oxygen,  will  forestall  or  coun- 
teract such  conditions,  and  these  are  to  be  se- 
cured through  muscular  exercises  and  fresh  air. 

"Gymnastics  twice  a  week"  is  no  panacea  for 
the  boy.  He  must  have  daily  open-air  activities, 
which  will  bring  his  larger  muscles  into  play,  and 
will  fill  meanwhile,  his  lungs  with  the  pure 
oxygen  of  the  country.  This  is  even  more  im- 
portant than  the  boy's  present  intellectual  train- 
ing, for  the  ability  to  acquire  the  latter  depends 
upon  his  capacity  to  absorb  the  former.  The 
muscles  re-act  either  directly  or  indirectly  upon 
the  brain,  as  well  as  upon  the  heart  and  lungs 
and  viscera.  Tyler  says  that  the  subject  of 
physical  training  demands  most  careful  atten- 
tion because  "the  will  is  trained  most  easily  and 
effectively  through  muscular  effort,  especially 
during  the  years  of  immaturity  of  the  tissues  of 
the  higher  centres  of  the  brain."  1 

The  primary  means  of  physical  training  are 
twofold ;  Play  and  Gymnastics.  '  *  Play  is  super- 
fluous energy  over  and  above  what  is  necessary 
to  digest,  breathe,  and  keep  the  heart  and  organic 
processes  going;  and  most  children  who  can  not 

1  Growth  and  Education ;    Tyler.    P.  201. 

f 


PHYSICAL   EDUCATION  ft 

play,  can  neither  study  nor  work  without  over- 
drawing their  resources  of  vitality  .  .  .  . 
Play  is  motor  poetry.  Too  early  distinctions 
between  play  and  work  should  not  be  taught. 
Education  should  really  begin  with  directing 
childish  sports  aright.  Froebel  thought  it  the 
purest  and  most  spiritual  activity  of  childhood, 
and  the  germinal  leaves  of  all  later  life.  School- 
ing that  lacks  recreation  favors  dulness,  for  play 
makes  the  mind  alert,  and  its  joy  helps  all  ana- 
bolic activities. ' ' 1 

The  games  of  boys  from  seven  to  twelve,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  are  co-opera- 
tive, but  competitive.  From  twelve  to  fourteen 
the  inclination  for  team-work  appears.  He  says 
that  running  games  are  the  earliest,  and  that 
these  in  turn  are  followed  by  throwing  and 
jumping.  He  fails  to  classify  those  sports  that 
are  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  lad ;  swimming  and 
skating.  What  is  a  closer  touch  with  nature  than 
a  strong  red-blooded  boy,  thrusting  himself 
vigorously  yet  lithely  forward  through  the  clear, 
rippling  water;  or  the  same  lad,  well-clad,  with 
rosy  cheeks  and  snapping  eyes,  skimming  grace- 
fully over  the  winter  lake!  And  both  these 

1  Youth;    G.  Stanley  Hall.    Pp.  115,  113. 


14   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

sports  combine,  with  a  splendid  exercise  of  the 
whole  body,  a  rare  opportunity  for  competition. 
Besides  the  physical  value  gained  from  spon- 
taneous exercise  in  the  form  of  play,  there  is 
the  mental  value  equally  great.  " Watch/'  for 
instance, '  *  even  a  game  of  tag.  The  sense-organs 
are  all  alert.  The  attention  is  focussed  on  one 
point.  This  is  the  best  means  of  training  the 
will,  for  close  attention  to  one  thing,  is  one  of 
the  best  forms  of  will-power.  The  child  must 
'size  up'  the  situation,  and  grasp  the  opportunity 
once  for  all.  He  can  not  stand  'shivering  on  the 
brink  of  action'  as  the  adult  so  frequently  does. 
Thinking,  willing,  and  doing  are  united,  not 
separated.  The  same  movement  is  repeated  until 
perfected,  and  with  undiminished  interest.  The 
child  forgets  himself  and  loses  shyness  and  self- 
consciousness ;  for  skill,  thought,  place  and 
strategy  constantly  increase.  On  the  playground 
he  learns  far  more  than  the  rudiments  of  the 
science  of  success  in  life  ....  The  con- 
ception of  fair  and  unfair  play  is  almost  the 
first  genuine  and  spontaneous  moral  distinction 
that  the  boy  makes.  He  is  still  very  hazy  in  his 
ideas  of  rights  of  property,  and  is  anything  but 
clear  in  his  theories  as  to  the  necessity  of  truth- 
fulness."1 

1  Growth  and  Education ;    Tyler.    P.  208. 


PHYSICAL   EDUCATION  65 

The  obligation  of  the  sub-preparatory  school  in 
providing  ample  play  facilities  for  the  boy,  is 
obvious.  Even  day-schools  both  public  and 
private,  are  realising  more  and  more  the  same 
necessity,  and  the  boarding-school,  situated  as 
it  is  in  the  country,  should  not  only  be  abreast  of 
the  times,  but  in  advance  of  them.  Let  some  of 
the  arduous  book  work  be  reserved  for  later 
years.  The  mind,  when  more  mature,  will  grasp 
the  subject  more  readily,  and  let  the  time  for 
play  be  long  and  merry.  In  addition  to  after- 
noon recreations,  short  periods  of  relaxation 
should  alternate  with  lesson  hours,  to  relieve 
causes  of  unrest,  nervousness  and  sexual  irrita- 
tion. 

While  play  is  activity  for  its  own  sake,  gym- 
nastic exercises  have  for  their  purpose,  the 
prescribed  strengthening  of  some  weak  organ  of 
the  body.  They  need  expert  supervision  and 
direction,  so  that  the  growing  boy  may  not 
misuse  his  powers  or  neglect  to  exercise  the  parts 
which  need  developing.  For  the  young  boy,  the 
gymnasium  should  never  prove  more  than  an 
easy  supplement  to  his  play.  Heavy  apparatus 
work,  especially  by  pre-pubertal  boys,  does  not 
result  in  extraordinary  muscular  development. 
It  has,  if  anything,  an  opposite  tendency.  We 
want  a  normally  developed  lad,  and  the  lightest 


56      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

of  apparatus  will  make  him  so.  Gymnastic  ex- 
ercises should,  above  all  else,  be  so  directed,  as 
to  promote  poise,  dignity  and  gracefulness  of 
carriage,  a  co-ordination  of  muscles,  and  well- 
developed  joints. 

Athletics,  meaning  track  teams  and  the  like, 
football,  rowing,  and  other  heavy  work,  should 
be  done  under  the  surveillance  of  a  thoroughly 
competent  physical  instructor  to  assure  against 
over-indulgence  therein.  Boys  under  fourteen 
are  always  keen  enough  to  wish  to  imitate  the 
achievements  of  older  fellows,  and  herein  lies 
one  particular  argument  in  favor  of  absolutely 
distinct  upper  and  lower  schools.  When  the 
segregation  is  complete,  there  is  less  likelihood  of 
the  young  boys  going  into  heavy  gymnastics 
too  soon,  and  becoming,  perhaps,  injuriously 
affected  for  life. 

In  camp,  or  in  the  lower  school,  the  gymnastics 
for  the  day  can  be  practically  covered  by  a  set- 
ting-up drill  immediately  upon  arising,  after 
which  should  come  a  plunge  or  a  "shower,"  a 
brisk  rubbing  down,  and  a  hasty  dressing.  In 
fine  weather  a  run  before  breakfast  may  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  calisthenics,  but  if  this  is  of  any 
appreciable  length,  say  over  half  a  mile,  it  ia 
better  that  the  boy  should  have  a  glass  of  milk 
and  biscuits  before  he  starts  out. 


PHYSICAL    EDUCATION  57 

This  leads  on  to  the  question  of  meals,  which 
more  properly  is  left  for  special  discussion  until 
the  administration  of  the  school  comes  under 
notice.  The  importance  of  sufficient  food,  pro- 
perly prepared,  and  served  at  the  right  time, 
can  not  be  underestimated.  The  fuel  which  keeps 
in  motion  the  machinery  of  the  small  boy  must 
be  neither  economised  in  quantity  or  quality, 
nor  slighted  in  its  preparation  and  service. 

So  many  parents  are  fearful  of  young  boys 
participating  in  one  sport  or  another,  and  parti- 
cularly in  foot-ball.  The  physical  examination 
should  establish  the  fact  whether  a  boy  is  fit  to 
follow  a  certain  exercise  or  not,  and  the  ap- 
prehension of  accident  should  not  debar  him 
from  the  pleasure  of  the  sport,  deprive  him  of 
the  many  benefits  that  it  contributes,  or  en- 
courage a  spirit  of  timidity  and  cowardice  in  the 
boy  himself. 


IV 

INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION 

IN  a  public  grammar  school,  the  intellectual 
development  of  the  pupil  depends  to  a 
great  degree  upon  the  scope  of  its  curri- 
culum. In  the  junior  boarding-school 
there  are  additional  factors  that  assist  or  retard 
the  lad's  mental  progress.  The  tone  of  the 
school,  the  personnel  of  the  staff,  the  character  of 
the  comrades  with  whom  the  boy  is  constantly 
in  touch,  all  have  their  bearing  upon  the  nor- 
mality and  extent  of  his  intellectual  growth.  In 
addition,  there  stands  the  influence  of  a  right 
physical  education  discussed  in  the  foregoing 
chapter.  The  interdependence  of  the  physical 
and  mental  natures  then,  asserts  itself  at  the 
very  outset,  and  that  relation  affects  both  the 
aim  of  the  curriculum  and  its  formulation.  We 
must  remember  that  the  boy  who  lacks  good  red 
blood,  has  poverty  of  thought,  and  is  deficient 
in  clearness  of  expression  as  well  as  in  clearness 
of  complexion.  "With  this  hypothesis  in  mind 
then,  the  general  aim  of  the  boy's  intellectual 
education  may  take  this  form :  The  stimulation  of 

68 


INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION  II 

high  mental  efficiency  in  the  various  fields  of 
elementary  learning,  and  the  fostering  of  an 
ideal  in  the  lad's  mind  that  will  combine  a  high 
standard  of  perfection  together  with  a  desire  to 
achieve  results  in  himself,  both  intellectual, 
physical,  moral,  and  social.  This  is  but  another 
phrasing  of  the  Froebelian  principles  of  self- 
activity  and  unity,  for  it  is  wished  that  the  boy's 
efforts  shall  be  spontaneous,  from  within  out, 
tending  meanwhile  to  unify  in  himself  the  qual- 
ities necessary  for  the  perfect  man,  as  a  perfect 
expression  of  the  Absolute. 

It  is  not  so  hard  to  harmonise  with  these  con- 
ditions, the  position  of  the  formal  disciplinarian. 
His  doctrine  is  by  no  means  hors  de  combat  be- 
fore the  onslaught  of  many  present-day  educa- 
tionalists. The  theory  that  the  same  mental 
power  developed  through  the  pursuit  of  a  given 
study  or  interest,  extends  in  general  to  the 
development  of  all  studies  and  interests,  cer- 
tainly offers  encouragement  to  pupil  and  in- 
structor alike.  It  stimulates  the  self-develop- 
ment of  the  boy  by  promising  him  that  problems 
conquered  in  one  place,  simplify  and  assist  the 
solution  of  others  that  he  may  meet  with  else- 
where. The  discussion  as  to  the  validity  of 
formal  discipline  is,  on  the  whole,  merely  an  op- 
portunity for  pedagogic  argument,  for  educators 


60   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

who  support  the  theory  as  well  as  those  who  do 
not,  both  unite  in  an  evaluation  of  apperception, 
and  that  indeed  is  the  psychological  point  of  im- 
portance to  the  teacher. 

Spencer  says  "That  as  political  governments, 
to  be  efficient,  must  grow  from  within,  and  not 
be  imposed  from  without,  so — there  is  a  natural 
process  of  mental  evolution  which  is  not  to  be 
disturbed  without  injury/'  He  points  out  fur- 
ther that,  as  has  been  already  indicated;  "We 
are  now  coming  to  the  conviction  that  body  and 
mind  must  both  be  cared  for,  and  the  whole  being 
unfolded.7'1 

The  essentially  new  and  practical  method  of 
teaching,  instead  of  presenting  abstract  truths  in 
a  didactic  way,  is  of  leading  the  boy  to  think  in 
terms  of  concrete  facts.  Procedure  must  be 
from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  em- 
pirical to  the  rational.  This  education  is  rather 
informal,  and  is  based  on  the  saying  that  "Ex- 
perience is  the  best  teacher."  Bagley  objects  to 
the  process  on  the  grounds  that  it  is  unsys- 
tematic and  uneconomical.  Perhaps  this  is  so  in 
the  secondary  school,  where  the  boy  is  mature 
enough  to  profit  from  the  "scientific  method"  of 
teaching,  but  while  he  is  still  in  the  lower  school, 

1  Education ;    Spencer.    P.  90. 


INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION  «1 

the  bounds  for  his  mental  activities  should  not 
be  too  closely  set,  but  the  line  of  least  resistance 
is  not  always  the  line  of  right  resistance. 

The  years  from  eight  to  twelve  inclusive,  that 
constitute  the  greater  portion  of  the  second  cycle, 
make  up  the  formative  period  of  the  boy's  life. 
At  the  beginning  of  this  period  says  Bagley, 
"The  brain  practically  completes  its  develop- 
ment as  far  as  weight  and  size  are  concerned, 
and  the  changes  that  this  organ  subsequently 
undergoes  are  due  to  internal  organisation — the 
knitting  together  of  different  sense  areas,  the 
ripening  of  the  association  centres,  and  the  for- 
mation of  functional  connections  between 
neurones.  Expressed  in  another  way  this  means 
that  the  years  from  eight  to  twelve  are  the  habit- 
forming  period,  for  habit,  on  its  physiological 
side,  is  the  making  permanent  of  pathways  of 
nervous  discharge  ...  In  contrast  to  the 
susceptibility  to  fatigue  and  disease  that  marks 
the  transition  period  (the  years  from  six  to 
eight)  the  years  from  eight  to  twelve  show  a  com- 
parative immunity  to  both  of  these  energy-ex- 
hausting forces.  Some  authorities  indeed,  main- 
tain that  the  child  fatigues  easily  at  this  time, 
but  all  appear  to  agree  that  he  recovers  very 
rapidly  from  fatigue  and  that  a  reasonable 
amount  of  strain  and  effort  is  now  quite  without 


62   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

the  disastrous  results  which  overwork  may  easily 
produce  in  the  preceding  and  in  the  following 
period.  "l 

As  these  then,  are  the  years  of  plasticity  and 
habit-forming,  the  years  when  the  boy's  suscep- 
tibility to  fatigue  is  at  its  minimum,  the  years 
when  the  play  interest  is  strong  and  constant,  a 
curriculum  may  be  presented,  which  will  give  the 
lad  short,  but  regular  periods  of  intensive  study. 
Under  this  condition,  prompted  by  his  own  spon- 
taneous interest,  and  encouraged  by  a  sympa- 
thetic teacher,  he  may  lay  in  his  store  of  elemen- 
tary knowledge  necessary  to  equip  him  fully  for 
his  work  in  the  secondary  school. 

The  curriculum  of  the  public  school  is  more 
or  less  utilitarian  in  its  temper.  It  is  forced  into 
being  so,  because  it  has  to  prepare  a  boy  as  com- 
pletely as  it  can  for  his  work  in  the  world — a 
boy  who,  in  twenty-four  cases  out  of  twenty-five, 
leaves  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen.  Fortunately 
the  private  school  is  not  a  slave  to  such  a  neces- 
sity. As  well  as  giving  the  boy  a  better  oppor- 
tunity for  physical  development,  it  can  reckon 
with  his  psychological  growth,  and  provide  him, 
at  the  age  of  easiest  receptivity,  with  the  ele- 

1  The  Educative  Process ;  Wm.  C.  Bagley.  Pp. 
190,  191. 


INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION  61 

ments  of  the  knowledge  that  he  will  need  in  yean 
to  come.  The  fixing  of  the  lesson  curriculum 
then,  depends  not  only  upon  the  introduction  of 
subjects  of  immediate  value  to  him,  such  as  the 
Mother  Tongue,  Writing  and  Arithmetic,  but 
those  of  future  value  as  well;  History  and  Geo- 
graphy, the  Modern  Languages,  Nature  Study, 
Latin,  Music,  Dancing  and  other  near-Gymnas- 
tics, Drawing,  and  the  various  forms  of  Manual 
Training.  The  details  of  these  subjects  will  all 
be  dealt  with  in  the  chapter  on  "The  Curricu- 
lum." In  considering  the  curriculum  however, 
one  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the 
boy 's  intellectual  training,  is  not  to  be  conducted 
purely  for  the  sake  of  subject-content,  but  to 
promote  enquiry,  to  culture  the  whole  child,  and 
to  train  his  powers  of  observation. 

But  intellectual  education  does  not  start  with 
the  lad's  advent  at  the  junior  boarding-school. 
It  should  have  begun  as  he  lay  in  his  cradle. 
During  the  years  of  infancy  and  early  childhood, 
he  should  have  been  properly  cared  for  and 
trained,  and  have  had  certain  habits  of  person 
and  character  grounded  before  he  leaves  hia 
home. 

Dr.  Henderson  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that 
"There  are  even  institutions,  running  in  the 
name  of  education,  which  boast  of  the  number  of 


64   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

students  who  are  annually  squeezed  out.  It  may 
be  an  odd  way  of  looking  at  it,  but  this  sounds 
to  me  like  boasting  of  one's  own  inefficiency,  and 
I  think  we  should  all  regard  such  an  operation 
as  quite  the  thing  it  is. ' ' l  The  inefficiency  of 
the  sub-preparatory  boarding-school  in  America 
has  not  been  eliminated  as  yet,  but  the  awakening 
interest  in  this  particular  phase  of  educational 
work,  gives  hope  of  speedy  improvement.  The 
function  of  the  school  is  rather  to  mould  and 
fashion  aright  the  clay  within  its  hands,  than  to 
drop  the  boy,  who  perhaps  is  not  incorrigible,  but 
merely  a  harder  problem  to  solve  than  the  others. 
The  chief  legitimate  excuse  that  the  school  may 
offer  for  failure  lies  in  the  attitude  of  American 
parents  toward  the  administration  of  effective 
correctives  to  boys  who  occasionally  need  them. 
Usually  speaking,  there  is  surely  a  chance  for 
the  difficult  boy,  if  he  is  carefully  and  lovingly 
studied,  and  given  the  out-of-door  life  that  he 
needs.  A  crisp  winter's  day  in  God's  open 
country,  is  enough  to  arouse  the  worst  dullard  to 
action.  If  he  does  not  respond  to  this  simple 
treatment,  review  his  physical  condition,  and 
see  if  the  cause  of  the  trouble  may  not  be  found 

1  Education  and  the  Larger  Life ;  Henderson. 
P.  112. 


INTELLECTUAL  EDUCATION  65 

there.  The  words  of  Montaigne  must  be  remem- 
bered '  *  It  is  not  a  mind,  it  is  not  a  body  that  we 
erect,  but  it  is  man,  and  we  must  not  make  two 
parts  of  him.7'1 


Assays;    Montaigne— Dent's  Ed.    Vol.  I.    P. 
244. 


MORAL  EDUCATION 

IN  the  matter  of  moral  training,  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  lower  school  might  be  less, 
were  not  the  second  cycle  so  distinctly  the 
formative  period.  Up  to  the  age  of  seven 
or  eight,  as  has  been  earlier  noted,  the  boy,  is 
simply  unmoral;  then  his  training  must  begin 
in  earnest.  Moral  education  is  by  no  means  a 
trivial  task  that  may  be  relegated  to  Morning 
Prayers  and  the  Sunday  School.  It  needs  as 
sound  and  as  constant  a  plan  of  action  as  phy- 
sical or  mental  training,  yet  in  this  case  the 
results  are  to  be  achieved  through  suggestion, 
emulation  and  loving  confidence,  rather  than  by 
impression  or  expression.  Its  object  is  to  lead 
the  lad  to  realise  his  ethical  obligations  to  society 
and  to  himself,  and  to  govern  his  daily  life  in 
accordance  with  the  moral  ideal  which  he  must 
formulate  for  himself. 

Moral  training  should  suggest  the  contribu- 
tion of  ethical  elements  to  the  formation  of  char- 
acter. The  word  "suggest'*  is  used  advisedly, 
for  it  seems  as  if  character  building  should  be 


MORAL  EDUCATION  67 

spontaneous  instead  of  coerced,  and  that  more 
may  be  accomplished  in  this  line  by  suggestion, 
than  by  exhortation  or  the  forcing  home  of 
precept.  A  good  example  is  the  concrete  form  of 
good  advice,  and  as  imitation  and  hero-worship 
are  strong  qualities  in  the  pre-adolescent,  who- 
ever stands  before  him  as  model,  should  be  a 
worthy  copy. 

That  expression  of  John  MacCunn's — "the 
moral  ideal"  l — epitomises  the  aim  of  moral  edu- 
cation. It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  in  the  effort 
to  help  the  boy  in  establishing  his  ideal,  that  as 
long  as  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  perversity  of 
human  nature,  there  will  be  some  antagonism  to 
good.  Hence  the  reason  why  the  lesson  of  ethical 
content  should  be  less  directly  presented  than 
for  example,  gymnastic  exercises  planned  for 
physical  development  and  appealing  to  the  lower 
or  easier  nature  of  the  boy,  or  some  work  in  the 
school  arts  or  sciences  arranged  for  intellectual 
culture.  Calisthenics  do  not  reach  the  "inner 
man"  directly  and  arouse  the  conflict  of  his  dual 
natures;  neither  do  reading,  writing  and  arith- 
metic stir  up  at  most,  more  than  a  contention 
with  mental  and  physical  laziness!  But  when 
moral  training  is  reached,  a  situation  is  un- 

1  The  Making  of  Character ;    John  MacCunn. 


68      YOUNG  BOTS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

covered  wherein  the  flesh  warreth  against  the 
spirit;  and  although  this  warfare  may  not  be 
omitted,  it  can  be  directed,  with  resultant  benefit 
to  the  boy,  along  the  line  of  right  resistance. 

It  is  a  rather  strong  Calvinistic  doctrine  which 
asserts  that  a  child  is  born  in  sin  and  has  but  a 
remote  chance  of  salvation.  If  we  accept  a 
Biblical  basis  at  all  for  the  argument  to  rest 
upon,  it  seems  fairer  to  believe  that  "God  saw 
every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it 
was  very  good."  l  And  so  the  boy  is  by  nature, 
or,  as  created,  good.  But  the  conditions  of 
society  under  which  he  has  to  live,  are  apt  to 
force  an  unnaturalness  that  must  often  seek  an 
outlet  in  wrong-doing. ' '  Wrong  "  is  a  difficult  ex- 
pression to  define,  but  it  means  any  thought  or 
act  opposed  to  the  internal  or  external  welfare 
of  the  individual  and  of  others.  If  good  were 
always  ascendant,  no  moral  standard  would  be 
required,  for  the  goodness  of  all  things  would 
eliminate  its  necessity.  We  should  all  think 
rightly,  and  act  rightly,  because  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  do  otherwise.  Perfection  then,  would 
not  necessarily  imply  character,  for  character  is 
formed  out  of  the  conflict  between  the  spiritual 
and  material  in  man. 

1  The  Bible;    Generis  I,  31. 


MORAL  EDUCATION  99 

Under  the  conditions  of  life  as  they  exist  how- 
ever, character  is  essential,  and  the  obligation  of 
the  moral  imperative — to  distinguish  between 
right  and  wrong,  and  to  choose  the  right — is 
plainly  important. 

The  more  complex  the  social  fabric,  the  greater 
a  boy's  delinquencies  are  apt  to  be,  although 
they  may  not  appear  as  great  on  the  surface,  as 
the  digressions  of  a  less  intricate  civilisation. 
The  more  a  pampered  son  of  wealth  the  boy  has 
been,  the  more  repressive  his  life  and  the  fewer 
his  opportunities  to  have  lived  out  the  history 
of  the  race.  Really  the  street  Arab  has  an  ad- 
vantage over  his  otherwise  more  favored  brother, 
having  lived  his  life  beyond  the  devitalising  pale 
of  social  conventions.  Three  fallacious  prin- 
ciples have  underlain  the  rearing  of  recent  gene- 
rations of  the  plutocracy :  First,  the  theory  that 
ignorance  means  innocence;  second,  over-indul- 
gence; and  third,  irresponsibility  and  lack  of 
self-control.  It  is  not  strange  then,  that  the  sub- 
preparatory  boarding-school  has  an  intricate 
riddle  to  solve  in  the  moral  training  of  its  boys. 

In  the  false  ideas  stated  above,  the  third  may 
be  taken  to  include  the  results  of  the  first  two. 
But  the  boy  is  scarcely  to  blame  for  his  lack  of 
self-control,  until  his  home  influence  has 
diminished  sufficiently  for  he  himself  to  realise 


70   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

his  need.  Simultaneously  with  this  recognition, 
he  should  have  the  chance  to  learn  what  self- 
control  is  and  how  vast  is  its  consequence.  The 
occasion  is  provided  by  the  junior  boarding- 
school. 

In  this  direction,  it  is  the  preliminary  duty  of 
the  school  to  give  the  lad  a  natural  environment. 
This  does  not  mean  isolation  like  Rousseau's 
"Emile."  Only  let  him  start  far  enough  back 
in  the  epochs  of  culture,  in  company  with  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  suitable  comrades,  and  come  to 
the  conclusion  empirically,  that  other  individuals 
of  similar  status  have  rights  corresponding  to  his 
own.  Should  this  lead  to  quarrels,  no  matter, 
for  it  is  better,  morally,  to  fight  out  differences 
and  forget  them,  than  to  cry  "  Peace,  Peace, 
when  there  is  no  peace. " 

The  next  step  is  to  acquaint  the  boy  with  the 
meaning  of  constituted  authority.  It  is  im- 
perative that  the  lad  who  at  maturity  will  be  in 
the  ruling  classes,  should  himself  learn  to  be  an 
obedient  servant.  Otherwise  he  will  know  but 
one  side  of  the  shield  of  law.  To  be  successful, 
the  lower  school  must  be  monarchic.  This  plan 
of  government  is  concretely  expressed  by  Mr. 
Colin  A.  Scott  in  his  description  of  the  Abbots- 
holme  School  in  England  of  which  Dr.  Cecil 


MORAL   EDUCATION  71 

Red  die   has   for   many   years,   been   the   head- 
master. 

"The  school  has  indeed  become  a  state,  but  it 
is  a  state  of  a  certain  type.  This  is  plainly  in- 
dicated in  Dr.  Reddie's  designation  of  it  as  a 
school  for  the  directing  classes,  and  in  the  fact 
that  the  whole  life  and  management  of  the  school 
is  derived  from  its  monarch.  This,  however,  does 
not  prevent  a  thoroughly  willing  system  of 
honorable  and  honor-loving  co-operation,  and 
the  great  success  of  the  institution  in  realising 
the  happiness  and  characters  of  the  pupils  raises 
the  question  whether  a  good  monarchy  is  not 
better  than  an  indifferent  democracy. 

' '  The  social  features  of  this  remarkable  school, 
which  already  has  a  number  of  off-shoots  or 
colonies  in  other  parts  of  England,  France  and 
Germany  (and  America),  are  founded  on  an  in- 
sight into  the  real  capacities  and  emotional  un- 
dercurrents of  the  pupils.  As  Dr.  Reddie  claims, 
the  school  aims  to  dimmish  competition  and  in- 
crease co-operation.  This  principle  is  applied 
in  the  first  place  to  the  natural  affections  of  the 
boys  for  each  other.  The  management  of  the  or- 
dinary boarding-school  often  tends  to  sharpen 
rivalries.  In  class  work  one  boy  is  set  against 
another.  Close  friendships  among  the  boys  are 
carefully  watched  and  broken  up  in  the  fear  of 


72      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

unmentionable  evils.  Such  watchfulness  against 
vice  becomes  so  marked  at  times  that  it  actually 
suggests  its  commission. 

"Dr.  Reddie  on  the  contrary,  believes  rather 
in  encouraging  affection  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
moting its  best  and  purest  development.  He 
thinks  that  such  a  spirit  is  the  surest  protection 
against  impurity,  and  that  the  antagonism  of 
competition  is  more  liable  to  lead  to  vice.  The 
boys  room  together  in  small  dormitories,  where 
they  are  not  overlooked  by  teachers,  but  are  left 
in  a  spirit  of  honorable  confidence.  The  per- 
sonnel of  each  dormitory  and  the  influence  of 
one  pupil  on  another  are  carefully  considered, 
one  of  the  older  boys  or  praefects  having  a  large 
share  of  the  responsibility.  The  boys  themselves 
discuss  with  Dr.  Reddie  the  make-up  of  their 
dormitory  groups  and  what  habits  of  manner, 
conversation,  and  toilet  make  for  character, 
health,  and  a  true  manly  spirit.  In  such  con- 
ference Dr.  Reddie  is  careful  not  to  go  beyond 
the  point  of  view  of  the  boys  themselves,  or,  at 
most,  such  a  point  of  view,  obtained  from  him, 
as  they  can  successfully  carry  out.  They  thus 
feel  that  it  is  an  honor  to  be  trusted,  and  they 
help  one  another  to  be  loyal  to  the  confidence 
reposed  in  them.  There  are  rules  posted  which 
are  not  too  formal  or  simple,  some  of  them  in- 


MORAL  EDUCATION  73 

deed  being  esoteric,  if  not  occult.  It  is  evidently 
considered  unnecessary  to  post  a  rule  which 
every  honorable  boy  would  naturally  think  of 
and  obey.  The  rules  are  issued  by  the  head- 
master, but  they  are  explained  to  the  boys,  and 
are  accepted  by  them  as  right. ' ' l 

It  is  obvious  that  Dr.  Scott  is  enthusiastic 
about  the  school  that  he  describes.  It  is  true 
that  any  visitor  to  ' '  Abbotsholme "  is  sure  to 
fall  a  victim  to  its  delightful  situation  on  the 
hillside  above  the  Dove,  and  recognise  at  once 
the  cordial  relationship  that  exists  between  all 
the  members  of  the  school,  the  boys  and  the  staff 
alike.  Dr.  Reddie's  theories  of  discipline  and 
moral  training  evidently  have  much  to  commend 
them,  and  the  reason  why  the  school  has  not 
flourished  as  much  as  it  legitimately  should  have 
done  during  the  twenty  years  or  more  of  its 
existence,  lies  not  so  much  in  its  position  on 
physical,  moral,  or  even  social  training,  as  in 
the  fact  that  its  curriculum  is  exceptionally 
" modern/'  and  an  attempt  at  "learning  by 
doing"  has  overshadowed  the  more  substantial 
framework  of  intellectual  development. 

This  digression  in  support  of  the  monarchic 
theory  has  been  somewhat  lengthy,  but  concrete 

1  Social  Education;  Colin  A.  Scott.    Pp.  45-47. 


74      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

results  of  a  principle  are  needed  to  prove  its 
worth,  and  at  * '  Abbotsholme "  at  least  they  may 
be  found.  The  headmaster  is  the  dictator,  the 
under-masters  his  lieutenants,  supported  by,  and 
supporting  him.  The  youngster  is  a  hero- 
worshipper,  and  if  the  King  is  his  hero,  his  obe- 
dience will  be  yielded  through  adoration.  Obe- 
dience won  through  love,  is  the  ideal  way  of 
establishing  that  most  excellent  habit,  and  in 
yielding  obedience  to  the  Head,  the  boy  will 
naturally  and  in  the  course  of  time  come  to  see 
his  obligation  of  obedience  to  still  higher  powers, 
his  country  and  his  God.  At  the  same  time  there 
develops  a  response  to  the  duty  of  obeying  his 
inner  self,  his  conscience — the  God  within  him. 
The  logic  of  this  argument  is  manifest,  when  one 
stops  to  consider  that  the  concrete  appeals  to  the 
boy,  hence  the  anthropomorphic  expression  of 
power  which  is  necessary. 

The  question  now  arises:  "Suppose  this 
theory  fails  to  function ;  suppose  the  boy  through 
ignorance  or  wilfullness  does  not  obeyt"  The 
answer  is,  that  the  school  should  see  to  it  that  he 
does.  Parents  should  not  place  their  sons  in 
charge  of  a  headmaster  whom  they  are  not  will- 
ing to  vest  with  absolute  parental  authority. 
Obedience  is  very  much  a  matter  of  habit,  but 
it  is  a  habit  that  sits  lightly  upon  the  shoulders 


MORAL   EDUCATION  ?$ 

of  the  American  child.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
the  school  is  responsible  in  a  slight  degree — that 
is,  the  public  school — that  such  a  situation  exists, 
for  it  has  featured  in  its  teaching  of  American 
history  the  glorious  freedom  of  the  citizens  of 
the  great  Republic,  rather  than  bringing  out  the 
more  philosophical  aspect  that  true  liberty  is 
obedience  to  law.  Another  present-day  influence 
in  the  wrong  direction  is  the  liberal  distribution 
of  the  i '  Comic  Supplement ' '  to  the  Sunday  news- 
papers, which  puts  mischief  at  a  premium  and 
makes  a  joke  of  punishment.  Greater  than  either 
of  these,  is  the  irresponsibility  of  the  parents 
themselves  and  their  attitude  towards  any  sys- 
tematic moral  training  that  requires  constant 
effort  and  no  small  amount  of  patience. 

Writing  upon  the  subject  of  "Making  Chil- 
dren Mind,"  Elise  Morris  Underbill,  a  well- 
known  kindergarten  worker,  has  to  say,  "The 
modern  child  does  not  obey  immediately  and  un- 
questioningly.  That  is  beyond  dispute.  His  fail- 
ure to  do  so  would  seem  to  be  due  to  the  modern 
parent's  inability  to  command  wisely;  for  the 
reasons  of  a  child's  misbehavior  may  nearly 
always  be  found  in  the  attitude  of  the  people  who 
have  authority  over  him.  There  is  too  little 
examination  into  the  motives  of  his  acts,  too  little 
relation  of  the  punishment  to  the  offence  .  .  . 


71      TOTJNQ  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Many  painstaking  and  conscientious  parents, 
who  bring  up  their  children  not  by  instinct  and 
brute  force,  but  thoughtfully  and  with  prayers, 
make  a  serious  error  in  reasoning  out  the  why 
and  wherefore  of  every  command  until  the  young 
tyrants  refuse  to  make  any  move  whatsoever 
until  its  cause,  meanings,  and  effects  have  been 
made  perfectly  clear  and  satisfactory  to  them. 
This  method  is  perhaps  legitimate  after  the  child 
has  reached  years  of  discretion — whenever  they 
may  be! — but  it  should  not  be  practiced  until 
he  has  learned  to  obey  unquestioningly ;  for  if  it 
is  employed  in  early  years,  the  parent  (or 
teacher),  is  practically  saying: 
"  'You  may  know  what  is  best  rather  than  I.'1 
If  the  obedience-habit  does  not  become  fixed 
through  love,  it  must  come  somehow,  and  seem- 
ingly the  only  other  way,  is  through  fear,  and 
through  such  punishment  as  shall  be  necessary 
to  impress  upon  the  boy's  mind  the  law  of  cause 
and  effect  and  its  social  relation.  Punishment 
for  young  boys  should  never  take  the  form  of  a 
detention  that  prevents  daily  exercise  in  the  open 
air,  nor  should  it  interfere  too  much  with  those 
out-of-door  activities,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  he 

lMunsey's  Magazine,   February,   1911.     Pp. 
636,  638. 


MORAL  EDUCATION  T7 

is  to  outgrow  his  savagery  and  work  off  those 
"animal  spirits " — the  exuberance  of  which  is 
the  charm  and  glory  of  boyhood.  "Punishment 
in  kind"  and  deprivations  from  anticipated 
pleasures  are  usually  effective  if  judiciously 
used,  but  untactfully  appropriated  as  a  means  of 
discipline,  may  serve  to  fix  the  master  as  a  tyrant 
in  the  mind  of  the  boy.  For  a  normal  healthy 
boy,  who  may  on  occasion  really  need  punish- 
ment, there  is  nothing  more  salutary  in  its  effect 
than  the  good  old  "birch,"  although  a  defence  of 
corporal  punishment  is  apt  to  stigmatise  one  as 
an  educational  heretic.  An  inexperienced  master 
is  sure  to  be  more  in  favor  of  whipping  a  boy  for 
some  delinquency  than  one  who  has  grown  wiser 
in  his  experience  of  dealing  with  boys.  Yet  no 
matter  how  many  years  have  added  to  one's 
knowledge  of  the  boy,  and  contributed  to  various 
tactful  and  effective  methods  of  management, 
there  is  still  a  great  moral  effect  to  be  had,  by 
the  privilege  keeping  the  rod  in  the  background, 
even  if  its  use  is  so  infrequent  as  to  be  prac- 
tically nil. 

With  the  theory  of  biologic  recapitulation  still 
in  mind,  a  third  step  in  the  moral  education  of 
the  boy  is  now  presented.  The  lad  is  still  in  a 
primitive  epoch,  the  only  conscious  law  of  which, 
ig  th*  law  of  self-preservation.  His  interprets- 


78   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

tion  of  self-preservation,  includes  the  care  of 
himself  and  the  gaining  of  such  things  as  con- 
tribute to  his  happiness  and  comfort.  If  the  boy 
is  now  taught  that  he  may  find  his  own  good  in 
seeking  the  good  of  others,  the  common-place 
form  of  self-interest  termed  selfishness,  will  be 
supplanted  by  a  recognition  that  the  welfare  of 
others  is  essential  for  the  establishment  of  social 
conditions  under  which  he  himself  will  be  best 
able  to  profit.  This  teaching  comes  not  through 
the  abandoning  of  conventionalities,  nor  by  love 
or  chastisement.  It  is  the  outcome  of  the  in- 
timate friendship  of  master  and  pupil.  Here 
the  personal  influence  of  the  master  is  at  its 
zenith,  and  here  those  teachers  fail  who  are  in- 
sincere or  indifferent  in  their  work.  Common- 
sense,  physical  virility  and  mental  power  are 
stronger  suggestions  to  the  lad  than  abstract 
virtues ;  yet  all  these  are  the  bricks  that  he  needs 
for  his  moral  structure. 

Another  aid  to  moral  training  which  is  social 
in  its  character,  is  the  democratic  ideal.  It  sets 
forth  the  fact  that  whatever  benefits  the  indivi- 
dual benefits  the  group,  and  vice  versa.  A  master 
can  make  use  of  this  theory  in  his  management 
of  boys,  by  showing  the  necessity  and  reward  of 
working  together  for  the  common  weal,  and  leav- 
ing the  adjustment  of  affairs  to  the  hands  of  the 


MORAL  EDUCATION  7» 

boys  when  one  member  of  the  group  may  not  be 
co-operating  with  the  others.  This  must  be 
diplomatically  done  however,  and  all  direct  effort 
to  set  the  group  upon  or  against  one  individual 
delinquent  must  be  avoided,  for  the  stimulus 
for  working  together  should  come,  if  rightly  en- 
couraged, from  the  boys  themselves.  There  is  no 
question  that  this  plan  is  of  strong  ethical  and 
moral  content,  as  it  serves  to  develop  unselfish- 
ness and  self-control,  and  it  is  certainly  applic- 
able to  a  community  that  aspires  to  democracy. 

There  is  no  reason,  logically,  why  the  boy 
should  be  carried  further  into  the  fine  points 
of  ethics,  than  he  is  in  the  science  of  mathe- 
matics. As  the  harder  problems  of  algebra  are 
left  to  adolescence,  so  all  that  is  required,  is  to 
implant  the  * '  school  arts ' '  of  morals  in  boyhood, 
and  leave  the  more  spiritual  and  ethical  aspects 
of  his  moral  education  to  later  years. 

A  boy  then,  who  has  thus  learned  self-control, 
is  the  master  of  every  situation  he  may  be  called 
upon  to  face.  Evil  of  every  sort  and  nature — 
temper,  dishonesty,  intemperance,  indecency, 
hate,  revenge,  the  cigarette-habit,  and  the  like— 
are  reducible  to  lack  of  self-restraint.  An 
earnest  desire  for  right,  and  an  earnest  effort  to 
attain  it,  form  the  only  true  prayer,  and  an  "Oh- 
Lord-forgive-me"  accomplishes  little  in  the  re- 


80      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

mission  of  sins  and  nothing  towards  their  atone- 
ment. 

Moral  education  may  then  be  summarised  as 
follows:  (1)  So  lead  the  boy  that  he  will  realise 
the  necessity  of  establishing  the  moral  ideal  for 
himself,  (2)  point  out  the  value  and  necessity  of 
self-control,  trusting  that  the  boy  will  learn  this 
lesson  voluntarily  rather  than  through  force  of 
circumstances,  (3)  see  that  the  method  is  one  of 
suggestion  instead  of  constant  command,  and 
(4)  whether  the  school  is  monarchic  or  demo- 
cratic in  its  position,  keep  the  social  side  of  moral 
training  constantly  in  view. 

A  final  question  now  arises,  "How  great  an 
agent  of  moral  education  is  the  Church?"  The 
school  is  a  constant  environment  for  the  boy, 
the  Church,  which  is  probably  vague  and  mys- 
terious to  him,  is  merely  an  intermittent  one. 
If  there  is  a  substantial  religious  undertone 'to 
the  school,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  broad 
principles  of  Christianity  should  not  underlie  all 
teaching,  ethical  and  otherwise,  as  well  as  the 
examples  set  in  daily  life,  the  Church  should  not 
feel  that  the  spiritual  life  of  the  boy  is  unrecog- 
nised or  uncared  for.  There  are  certainly  strong 
arguments  against  sectarian  influences  and  theo- 
logical teaching,  unless  the  institution  be  a 
church  school,  and  represent  some  particular 


MORAL   EDUCATION  81 

faith.  Religion,  on  the  contrary,  should  play  its 
part,  but  more  in  the  hourly  experiences  of  the 
masters  and  the  boys,  than  during  the  short 
period  on  Sunday  devoted  to  Bible  study.  Here, 
perhaps,  it  is  well  worth  noting,  that  in  order  to 
secure  a  homogeneous  mass,  it  is  better  that  boys 
of  too  widely  divergent  creeds  or  races  should 
not  be  thrown  together  in  the  same  group. 

Every  boarding-school  should  be  equipped  with 
a  chapel,  where  a  brief  service  may  be  held  once 
a  day,  preferably  at  eventide,  as  that  is  perhaps 
a  period  of  the  day  when  the  boy  may  be  more 
susceptible  to  the  power  of  the  service,  than  at 
any  other  time.  Reverence  during  the  exercises 
should  be  insisted  upon,  and  the  service  itself 
should  never  give  cause  for  inattention,  on  ac- 
count of  undue  length,  or  content  unintelligible 
to  the  mind  of  the  boy. 


VI 
SOCIAL   EDUCATION 

IN  this  chapter  there  is  a  two-fold  signifi- 
cance to  the  word  "social":  (I)  its  mean- 
ing in  respect  to  co-operative  activities,  and 
(2)  its  purely  humanistic  aspect,  that  of 
reference  to  the  society  of  the  favored  classes. 

In  regard  to  the  first  interpretation,  it  is  worth 
while  connoting  the  fact  that  there  is  a  well- 
justified  and  growing  tendency  to  encourage 
unified  work  and  reciprocative  activities  both  in 
the  class-room  and  on  the  recreation  field.  The 
lessons  learned  through  self-organized  group- 
work  are  readily  apperceived,  and  stimulate  an 
" esprit  de  corps"  which  remains  an  influence  in 
the  boy's  life  long  after  the  lessons  are  put 
aside.  This  side  of  social  education  however,  is 
really  more  a  method  suggested  for  the  attain- 
ment of  the  intellectual,  than  a  distinct  phase 
co-ordinate  in  importance  with  physical,  mental 
and  moral  training.  Our  attention  may  be 
turned,  therefore,  to  a  longer  consideration  of 
the  second  meaning. 

82 


SOCIAL   EDUCATION  83 

Pope  says  in  his  first  Essay  on  Morals : l 

'Tis  education  forms  the  common  mind, 
Just  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  inclined. " 

This  quotation  indicates  the  need  of  a  watch- 
ful care  being  given  to  the  formation  of  manner- 
habits  during  boyhood,  so  that  after  adolescence, 
the  youth's  deportment  may  be  that  of  a  gentle- 
man. In  discussing  Thomas  Elyot  's  ' '  Institution 
of  a  Gentleman"  Woodward  says:  "The  theme 
is  that  no  man  may  be  ' gentle'  without  personal 
excellence.  It  follows  naturally  that  such  excel- 
lence is  to  be  looked  for  as  the  fruit  of  proper 
education.  Now  the  function  of  a  gentleman  is 
to  lead ;  his  excellence  will  then  be  proved  by  his 
usefulness  in  the  particular  sphere  he  occupies. 
The  responsibilities  of  parents  are  thus  not  to 
their  children  only,  but  to  the  State  for  whose 
behoof  they  instruct  them. ' ' 

Personal  excellence  does  not  consist  merely  in 
having  a  sound  body,  and  active  mind,  and  a 
good  character.  It  lies  in  the  assembling  of  these 
three  pre-requisites,  out  of  which  a  fourth  arises ; 
namely,  the  power  to  use  the  first  three  judici- 
ously and  pleasingly  to  others,  throughout  one's 

1  Essay  on  Morals ;    Alexander  Pope. 
*  Education  during  the  Renaissance;    W.  H. 
Woodward.    P.  96. 


84   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

experiences  in  life.  This  power  may  be  called  the 
participative  appreciation  of  the  niceties  of  cul- 
ture, courtesy,  manners,  or  what  you  will.  Its 
cultivation  is  the  aim  of  social  education.  Its 
possession  assures  its  holder  kind  consideration 
and  acceptance  at  the  court  of  culture  and  re- 
finement. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  crude  deportment  of  a 
lusty,  lively  lad,  to  the  bearing  of  a  Chesterfield. 
But  no  demand  is  made  for  an  immediate  tran- 
sition. The  call  is  for  a  positive  ultimate  result, 
and  the  effort  must  be  made  to  secure  a  gradual 
accretion  of  social  amenities.  Our  grandmothers 
contended  that  " company  manners"  were  im- 
practicable, yet  the  support  of  an  opposite  belief 
is  by  no  means  an  expression  of  hypocrisy.  The 
social  occasion  stimulates  the  deportment  requi- 
site for  that  occasion.  A  boy  who  has  had  proper 
training,  can  command  a  proper  social  bearing  as 
well  as  the  boy  who  has  studied  German  can 
make  use  of  the  tongue  should  he  happen  to 
travel  on  the  Rhine.  As  the  boy  grows  older, 
and  his  touch  with  the  world  becomes  more 
regular,  his  use  of  social  powers,  before  inter- 
mittent, will  become  naturally  as  constant  as  the 
demand  upon  them.  Passive  instincts  change 
with  adolescence,  unconsciously  to  active  in- 
stincts, providing  they  have  surely  been  latent 


SOCIAL  EDUCATION  f| 

from  the  days  of  the  junior  school.  Like  every 
other  subject  that  penetrates  the  boy's  mind 
during  the  formative  period,  he  stores  away  the 
facts,  and  brings  them  forth  for  organisation 
and  use  in  later  years.  So  with  this  hope  within 
us,  we  may  trust  the  boy  to  rise  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  social  occasion,  and  at  the  same  time  enjoy 
the  free  life  of  boyhood  as  pictured  by  Hall. 

"As  this  period  (boyhood)  draws  to  a  close 
and  the  teens  begin,  the  boy  should  have  fought, 
whipped  and  been  whipped,  used  language  offen- 
sive to  the  prude  and  to  the  prim  precisian,  been 
in  some  scrapes,  had  something  to  do  with  bad, 
if  more  with  good,  associates,  and  been  exposed 
to  and  already  recovering  from  as  many  forms 
of  ethical  mumps  and  measles  as,  by  having  in 
mild  form  now  he  can  be  rendered  immune  to 
later  when  they  become  far  more  dangerous,  be- 
cause his  moral  and  religious  as  well  as  his  ra- 
tional nature  is  normally  rudimentary.  He  is 
not  depraved,  but  merely  in  a  savage  or  half- 
animal  stage,  although  to  a  large-brained,  large- 
hearted  and  truly  parental  soul  that  does  not 
call  what  causes  it  inconveniences  by  opprobrious 
names,  an  altogether  lovable  and  even  fascinat- 
ing stage.  The  more  we  know  of  boyhood  the 
more  narrow  and  often  selfish  do  adult  ideals  of 
it  appear.  Something  is  amiss  with  the  lad  of 


II   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

ten  who  is  very  good,  studious,  industrious, 
thoughtful,  altruistic,  quiet,  polite,  respectful, 
obedient,  gentlemanly,  orderly,  always  in  good 
toilet,  docile  to  reason,  who  turns  away  from 
stories  that  reek  with  gore,  prefers  adult  com- 
panionship to  that  of  his  mates,  refuses  all  low 
associates,  speaks  standard  English,  or  is  as 
pious  and  deeply  in  love  with  religious  services 
as  the  typical  maiden  teacher  or  the  'A  la  mode' 
parent  wishes.  Such  a  boy  is  either  under-vital- 
ised and  aenemic  and  precocious  by  nature,  a 
repressed,  overtrained,  conventionalised  man- 
nikin,  a  hypocrite,  as  some  can  become  under 
pressure  thus  early  in  life,  or  else  a  genius  of 
some  kind  with  a  little  of  all  these."  1 

It  does  lie  within  the  scope  of  social  education 
nevertheless,  to  develop  in  the  lad,  to  a  certain 
degree,  a  sense  of  obligation  to  environment,  a 
social  responsibility,  which  will  function  in  the 
cognition  of  the  social  occasion.  The  American 
boy  is  woefully  lacking  in  this  faculty,  if  we  are 
to  trust  the  testimony  of  our  senses.  The  sim- 
plest proof  of  this  assertion  is  an  observation  of 
a  small  son  of  wealthy  parents  in  the  city  at 
holiday  seasons,  or  at  hotels,  camps,  or  travelling, 
during  the  longer  vacation  afforded  by  the  suin- 

1  Youth;    G.  Stanley  HalL    P.  236. 


SOCIAL  EDUCATION  S7 

mer.  There  is  a  certain  forwardness  and  sub- 
conscious vulgarity  to  his  mannerisms  and  ex- 
pressions, an  uneasiness  of  person,  and  a  lack  of 
straight-forwardness,  that  are  not  the  character- 
istics which  should  be  found  in  a  healthy,  up- 
right lad — even  in  a  lad  running  the  boyish 
gamut  enumerated  by  Dr.  Hall. 

The  sub-preparatory  school  still  has  the  pro- 
blem of  social  training  to  solve.  Until  it  does 
so,  Bacon's  advice  to  parents  is  still  in  place: 
"But  till  you  can  find  a  School,  wherein  it  is 
possible  for  the  Master  to  look  after  the  Manners 
of  his  scholars,  and  can  show  as  great  Effects  of 
his  Care  of  forming  their  Minds  to  Virtue  and 
their  Carriage  to  good  Breeding,  as  of  forming 
their  Tongues  to  the  learned  Languages,  you 
must  confess,  that  you  have  a  strange  Value  for 
Words,  when  preferring  the  Languages  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  to  that  which  made 
'em  such  brave  Men,  you  think  it  is  worth  while 
to  hazard  your  son's  Innocence  and  Virtue  for 
a  little  Greek  and  Latin. "  l 

Bacon  has  this  also  to  say  on  the  subject  of 
manners,  and  the  method  indeed  that  he  suggests, 
supports  the  argument  of  this  chapter.  "Man- 
ners," says  he,  "as  they  call  it,  about  which 

1  Essay  on  Education;    Bacon.    Sect.  70. 


88      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

children  are  so  often  perplex 'd,  and  have  so 
goodly  exhortations  made  them  .  .  .1  think 
are  rather  to  be  learnt  by  Example  than  by 
Rules :  and  then  Children,  if  kept  out  of  ill  com- 
pany, will  take  a  pride  to  behave  themselves 
prettily,  after  the  Fashion  of  others,  perceiving 
themselves  esteemed  and  commended  for  it.  But 
if  by  a  little  Negligence  in  this  part,  the  boy 
should  not  pull  off  his  Hat,  nor  make  Legs  very 
gracefully,  a  Dancing-master  will  sure  cure  that 
defect,  and  wipe  off  all  that  Plainness  of  Nature, 
which  the  a-la-mode  People  call  Clownishness. ' ' l 
There  is  still  another  aim  of  social  education. 
It  is  the  development  of  the  power  of  initiative 
and  leadership,  a  capacity  that  will  enable  the 
boy  to  become  the  man  of  the  hour.  If  a  boy  or 
youth  is  physically,  mentally  and  morally  pre- 
pared to  step  into  some  executive  or  administra- 
tive position,  he  must  not  miss  the  opportunity 
because  he  has  failed  to  perceive  it;  or  having 
seen  it,  because  he  lacks  the  spirit  of  good  fellow- 
ship to  make  it  his  own.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
fraternise  with  one's  inferiors — providing  the 
inferiority  is  certain — in  order  to  manage  them, 
but  a  well-directed  comaraderie  at  once  insures 
the  position  of  the  holder  against  violation,  and 

1  Essay  on  Education ;    Bacon.    Sect  74,  67. 


SOCIAL   EDUCATION  89 

at  the  same  time  commands  the  loyal  support  and 
best  efforts  of  those  under  his  authority.  This 
will  hold  true  whether  the  young  man  finds  him- 
self the  head  of  an  office  force,  the  president  of 
a  growing  railway  system,  the  manager  of  a 
manufacturing  plant,  the  captain  of  a  vessel, 
the  counsel  of  a  modern  corporation,  the  surgeon 
at  an  operating  table,  the  clergyman  building  up 
a  church,  or  the  headmaster  in  control  of  a 
school.  But  this  capacity  fails  to  fructify  if 
colored  by  snobbishness,  and  indeed,  though 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  show  the  lad  that 
he  will  be  properly  privileged  to  hold  positions 
of  political,  legal,  commercial,  mercantile,  finan- 
cial or  educational  authority,  that  a  mis-use  of 
his  power  or  an  undemocratic  employment 
thereof,  is  unworthy  of  a  patrician. 

The  social  development  of  the  boy  contributes 
to  his  personal  equation.  It  is  for  men  of  per- 
sonal equations  that  the  world  is  calling  to-day. 
It  is  a  false  supposition  that  this  element  springs 
full-grown  into  existence  into  a  man's  make-up, 
after  his  days  at  school  and  college  are  over.  If 
it  does  not  find  its  inception  in  the  elementary 
school,  its  further  development  in  the  secondary 
school,  and,  to  some  extent,  its  expression  in  col- 
lege activities,  it  is  apt  to  remain  a  negative 
element  in  the  man's  character.  General  educa- 


90   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

tion  must  give  us  the  power  to  apply  knowledge 
as  well  as  to  gain  it,  and  the  application  is  social, 
inasmuch  as  it  affects  both  the  individual  and 
those  with  whom  he  may  come  in  touch.  This  is 
that  knowledge  which,  as  Milton  says,  "belongs 
to  good  men  and  good  governors. ' ' l 

As  in  the  case  of  moral  training,  social  educa- 
tion is  a  slow,  indirect  process.  For  that  reason 
it  can  be  started  none  too  soon ;  and  because  the 
junior  boarding-school  may  offer  the  first  envi- 
ronment beyond  the  home,  quite  properly  is  it 
the  place  for  social  development  to  find  its  in- 
ception. The  procedure  should  remain  unforced, 
bearing  in  mind  Bacon's  advice:  "Boys  will  be 
unavoidably  taught  assurance  by  conversation 
with  Men,  when  they  are  brought  into  it,  and 
that  is  Time  enough."1 


1  Essay  on  Education ;    Milton.    P.  477. 
1  Essay  on  Education ;    Bacon.    Sect.  70. 


VII 
THE  DAY'S  WORK. 

AFTER  due  consideration  has  been 
given  to  the  theoretical  educational 
requirements  of  the  boy,  the  question 
next  arises;  "What  are  the  condi- 
tions unuer  which  these  purposes  can  be  prac- 
ticed most  effectively  in  respect  to  the  lad  him- 
self?" Of  course  the  lesson-curriculum  is  of 
prime  importance,  and  yet  lesson-work  consumes 
at  most  not  more  than  one-quarter  of  the  entire 
day, — six  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  The 
remaining  eighteen  hours,  being  the  majority, 
justify  the  first  consideration  for  a  distribution 
that  will  produce  the  best  results.  It  seems 
hardly  necessary  to  defend  the  programme  pre- 
sented on  the  following  page,  and  comments  can 
only  prove  in  the  nature  of  an  explanation.  The 
arrangement  of  the  daily  programme  is  the 
pivotal  point  upon  which  the  well-articulated, 
quadruple  development  of  the  boy  depends,  and 
as  the  success  of  the  school  is  in  direct  ratio  to 
his  progress,  it  is  obviously  important  that  no 
efforts  be  spared  in  outlining  the  boy 's  routine  to 
best  advantage. 

91 


YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 


Autumn  and  Winter      Spring. 


Rising-bell 
Breakfast 
Recreation 
Roll-call 
First  Hour 
Second  Hour 
Third  Hour 
Recreation 
Fourth  Hour 
Fifth  Hour 
Sixth  Hour 
Luncheon 
Recreations 
Clean-up 
Seventh  Hour 
Dinner 
Chapel 
Social  Hour 
Bed  Hour, 

age  7  to  9 
Bed  Hour, 

age  10  to  : 
Bed  Hour, 


6:50 

6:50 

7:30 

7:30 

8:00—  8:30 

8:30—  8:30 

8:30 

8:30 

8:40—  9:15 

8:40—  9:15 

9:20—  9:55 

9:20—  9:55 

10:00—10:35 

10:00—10:35 

10:35—11:00 

10:35—11:00 

11:00—11:35 

11:00—11:35 

11:40—12:15 

11:40—12:15 

12:20—12:50 

12:20—12:50 

1:00 

1:00 

2:00—  5:00 

2:45—  6:00 

5:00—  5:20 

6:00—  6:20 

5:30—  6:15 

2:00—  2:45 

6:30 

6:30 

7:20—  7:30 

7:20—  7:30 

After  Chapel 

After  Chapel 

7:45_  8:15 

7:45—  8:15 

18:00—  8:30 

8  :00—  8  :30 

8:15—  8:45 

8:15—  8:45 

THE  DAY'S  WORK  91 

SUNDAY   PROGRAMME — ALL   TERMS   ALIKE 

Rising-bell  7:45 

Breakfast  8 :30 

Bible  History  9:30 

Start  for  Church  10 :30 

Back  from  Church  12:30 

Dinner  1 :3Q 
Recreation  (Afternoon)    2:30-5:30 

Roll-call  5 :45 

Supper  6 :00 

Choir  Drill  7:00 

Letter- writing  7 :30 
Bed  hour — as  other  days. 

It  will  first  be  noted  that  forty  minutes  elapse 
between  the  ringing  of  the  rising-bell  and  break- 
fast. This  would  be  too  long  a  time  were  not 
much  more  to  be  done  in  that  period  than  mere 
washing  and  dressing.  Formerly  a  setting-up 
drill  would  have  been  recommended  for  the  boy 
just  out  of  bed,  but  unless  the  morning  is  very 
stormy,  the  time  allowed  for  this  exercise  is  bet- 
ter spent  in  the  open  air.  The  youngster  upon 
jumping  from  bed  and  out  of  his  pyjamas  should 
have  a  short  needle  bath  or  a  brisk  "ducking" 
in  the  tub  in  water  that  is  cold,  or  practically  so. 
A  bath  of  this  sort  is  better  than  a  drenching 
"shower,**  and  is  followed  with  a  quick  and 


94   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

healthy  reaction.  The  mere  putting  on  of 
clothes  may  be  a  rapid  process,  and  deserves  no 
more  time  than  sufficient  to  assure  neatness  of 
person  and  the  arranging  of  the  bed  for  its  daily 
airing.  The  process  so  far,  culminating  with  a 
well-washed,  completely-dressed  youngster,  in 
spite  of  the  perversity  of  inanimate  things  such 
as  broken  shoe-laces  and  wilful  collars,  should 
not  occupy  over  twenty  minutes,  and  within  five 
minutes  after  this,  the  boy  should  be  responding 
for  the  tramp  of  half  a  mile  or  more  that  dis- 
places the  setting-up  drill,  gives  him  a  taste  of 
nature,  fills  his  lungs  with  fresh  air,  and  assures 
a  wonderful  appetite  for  breakfast — all  at  the 
same  time.  In  the  frostier  weather  of  the  late 
autumn  and  winter,  when  the  cubicles  are  ex- 
tremely cold  as  the  result  of  windows  opened 
over  night,  the  school  should  provide  a  common 
dressing-room  for  each  dormitory  group.  This 
should  be  properly  heated  and  used  by  the  boys 
under  surveillance  of  the  dormitory  master,  or 
if  efficient,  by  one  or  more  praefects.  In  fact  the 
common  dressing-room  is  an  admirable  scheme 
for  every  season  of  the  year,  as  the  plan  abolishes 
loitering  and  all  mischief  that  might  result 
therefrom.  Breakfast  is  seldom  a  meal  that  ex- 
ceeds half  an  hour,  and  the  thirty  minutes  addi- 
tional before  school  work  begins,  is  free  time  to 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  95 

await  the  arrival  of  the  mail,  find  another  bit  of 
fresh  air,  and  more  important  still,  for  the  daily 
movement  of  the  bowels.  From  the  carelessness 
with  which  boys  attend  to  this  diurnal  necessity, 
it  would  almost  seem  as  if  many  homes  had  been 
negligent  in  establishing  this  habit  of  decency 
and  hygiene.  With  an  open  closet  provided  for 
an  average  of  every  ten  boys,  there  should  never 
be  any  excuse  that  ample  opportunity  for  defae- 
cation  is  not  included  in  the  school  programme. 
The  ten  minutes  allowed  for  roll-call  are, 
without  doubt,  sufficient  time  for  the  calling 
together  of  the  school,  and  for  making  the  neces- 
sary announcements  for  the  day.  The  study  and 
recitation  periods  are  thirty-five  minutes  in 
length,  with  five  minute  breaks  for  fresh  air, 
chatter,  and  micturition.  The  Sixth  Hour  com- 
ing at  the  close  of  the  morning  is  slightly  short- 
ened, while  the  Seventh  Hour,  coming  after  a 
decidedly  prolonged  break,  and  used  for  prepara- 
tion rather  than  recitation,  may  be  safely  ex- 
tended to  forty-five  minutes.  Shaw  says  in  his 
book  on  school  hygiene:  "The  length  of  the 
periods  given  to  recitation  in  the  various  school 
years  is  an  important  matter.  It  will  be  found 
that  much  more  can  be  gained  by  short  intensive 
periods  of  recitation,  than  can  be  gained  other- 
wise. The  mistake  is  constantly  being  made  in 


»6      YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

the  arrangement  of  school  programmes  of  requir- 
ing pupils  to  give  attention  for  too  long  a 
period.  ™  In  the  grades  corresponding  to  the 
average  forms  of  the  junior  boarding-school, 
Shaw  fixes  the  limit  at  thirty  minutes.  It  is 
possible  that,  upon  some  occasions  the  instructor 
might  wish  to  extend  the  time  a  minute  or  so, 
and  the  idea  of  the  thirty-five  minutes  allowed 
in  the  programme  here,  is  to  provide  thirty 
minutes  of  intensive  recitation,  and  the  remain- 
ing time,  following  a  "first  bell,"  for  the  assign- 
ment of  the  next  lesson,  making  up  of  records, 
correction  of  papers,  etc.,  etc.  As  the  hours  are 
so  short,  the  boys  should  understand  that  permis- 
sion to  leave  the  room,  except  in  cases  of  extreme 
urgency,  will  not  be  granted.  In  the  end,  this 
plan  will  prove  an  economy  of  time. 

At  the  morning  recess,  all  boys  should  be 
required  out  of  doors,  and  no  better  way  of  filling 
this  period  can  be  suggested  than  by  ten  minutes 
of  brisk  setting-up  drill  in  the  open  air,  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  light  luncheon  of  biscuit  and  milk. 

At  the  end  of  the  Sixth  Hour,  ten  minutes  are 
allowed  for  preparation  for  luncheon,  and  then 
an  hour  is  allotted  to  a  meal  which  should  cover 
forty  minutes.  The  afternoon  recreations  are 

School  Hygiene;  Shaw.    P.  23L 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  97 

scheduled  to  fill  the  earlier  portion  of  the  after- 
noon in  the  Autumn  and  Winter  Terms,  and  the 
latter  part  during  the  Spring  Term  when  the 
days  are  longer  and  warmer.  The  clothing 
should  always  be  changed  before  going  out  for 
sports,  and  a  definite  report  made  to  the  master 
in  charge  for  the  day.  On  stormy  afternoons, 
walking  may  still  be  enjoyed,  or  else  extra  work 
in  the  manual  training  shop,  play  in  the  gymna- 
sium, or  special  dispensations  in  the  swimming- 
pool  may  take  its  place.  There  should  be  thirty 
minutes  allowed  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon 
recreations,  for  "showers/'  dressing,  and  per- 
haps light  refreshments,  such  as  are  frequently 
served  in  the  English  schools  at  this  time. 

The  Seventh  Hour  is  essentially  a  preparation 
and  make-up  period.  The  schedule  should 
require  all  prepared  and  unprepared  lessons  to 
come  in  the  morning  hours,  and  allow  frequent 
free  periods  then  as  well.  With  the  individual 
attention  that  a  school  such  as  this  should  give, 
further  time  for  study  is  unnecessary,  and  thus 
the  mistake  of  sending  young  boys  to  bed  imme- 
diately after  intense  mental  activity,  is  avoided 

The  evening  meal  should  include  the  best  part 
of  an  hour.  It  should  be  the  formal  meal  of  the 
day  in  dress,  yet  informal  enough  in  its  conver- 
sation and  pleasantries  to  abandon  stiffness 


98   YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

without  losing  dignity.  The  question  of  a  first- 
class  table  is  pertinent  here.  Children  are  more 
susceptible  than  adults  to  the  effects  of  food  of 
inferior  quality.  They  need  a  good  varied  diet, 
and  yet  /'during  the  whole  period  of  childhood 
up  to  the  age  of  puberty,  the  closest  attention 
should  be  given  to  the  regulation  of  the  kind  and 
amount  of  food  given  them."1  The  human  en- 
gine has  not  only  to  go  but  to  grow,  and  it  is  a 
very  poor  institutional  economy  and  business 
policy  that  would  restrict  the  fuel  during  boy- 
hood. The  idea  that  a  meat  diet  stimulates  sen- 
suality is  not  accredited  in  the  best  medical 
circles  to-day.  Dr.  Albert  Moil  of  Berlin  has 
this  to  say:  "The  suggestion  has  been  made 
that  from  the  sexual  outlook  the  diet  of  children 
is  a  matter  worthy  of  the  most  earnest  attention. 
Nothing  should  be  given  to  the  child  which  may 
exert  a  sexually  stimulating  effect ;  especially  we 
must  avoid  giving  heavy  foods  late  in  the  even- 
ing. More  detailed  direction  (in  special  text- 
books referred  to)  are  also  given  as  to  the  use 
of  particular  kinds  of  food,  some  of  which  may 
be  consecrated  by  tradition,  and  yet  seem  to  have 
but  small  reasonable  foundation.  To  this  cate- 
gory belong  the  prohibition  or  limitation  of  flesh- 
pediatrics;  Rotch.  P.  245. 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  99 

foods,  and  the  prohibition  of  asparagus,  celery 
and  other  articles  of  diet.  There  is  no  proof  that 
such  things  have  a  stimulating  influence  upon 
the  sexual  impulse,  either  in  children  or  in 
adults.  We  might  more  readily  incline  to  believe 
that  certain  spices  may  have  such  an  influence; 
but  even  as  regards  these,  no  great  anxiety  may 
be  felt.  As  regards  alcohol,  many  maintain  that 
it  has  an  exciting  influence  upon  the  sexual  life, 
and  thus  gives  rise  to  all  kinds  of  excesses.  This 
may  be  true  of  a  good  many  cases,  but  the  rule  is 
by  no  means  so  general  as  is  commonly  as- 
sumed."1 

A  liberal  vegetable  diet  is  certainly  cheaper  in 
these  days  of  high  meat-prices,  and  the  children 
of  the  laboring  classes  brought  up  mainly  on  the 
same,  appear  well ;  but  the  energy  which  the  food 
gives  must  be  considered  quite  as  much  as  the 
physical  growth  it  induces,  and  as  Spencer  says : 
"Both  in  mental  and  physical  vivacity  the  low- 
fed  peasant-boy  is  greatly  inferior  to  the  better 
fed  son  of  a  gentleman. ' ' 2  There  is  no  need  how- 
ever of  more  than  one  "heavy"  and  one  "light" 
meat  a  day  for  the  boy,  and  that  the  former 

1  The  Sexual  Life  of  The  Child ;   Moll.    P.  309. 

2  Education;    Spencer.    P.  248. 


100     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

should  be  served  as  the  evening  meal,  is  not 
against  the  recommendation  of  the  eminent  Ger- 
man specialist  just  quoted,  for  it  will  be  noted 
that  he  merely  advises  against  heavy  foods  late 
in  the  evening,  probably  with  the  Continental 
dinner-hour  of  eight  o'clock  in  mind,  whereat 
our  schedule  expects  the  evening  meal  to  be 
started  not  later  than  six-thirty  o'clock.  But 
beyond  the  question  of  diet,  it  is  surely  most  im- 
portant that  the  lad  should  learn  to  be  able  to 
eat  whatever  food  may  properly  find  place  on  a 
gentleman's  table,  and  to  do  so  without  being 
finicky  or  fault-finding,  and  in  such  quiet  form, 
as  to  be  inconspicuously  well-mannered. 

If  a  chapel  service  is  to  be  anything  more  than 
a  mere  formality,  the  evening  hour  adds  a  mys- 
ticism that  appeals  to  many  a  lad  even  though 
the  service  is  extremely  simple — a  brief  passage 
from  the  Bible,  a  prayer,  and  a  hymn  in  which 
all  may  join.  After  that  the  evening  should  be 
devoted  to  social  diversions,  except  in  dis- 
ciplinary cases,  where  a  little  additional  time 
may  be  required  in  the  school-room. 

Dr.  Rotch,  in  his  wonderful  manual  on  the 
child— "Pediatrics"— says  that  the  best  rule  for 
rest,  is  to  "allow  the  child  to  sleep  as  long  as  it 
naturally  can."  It  is  possible  to  reduce  this 
"naturally  can"  to  reasonably  accurate  figure*. 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  101 

Dr.  Newsholme  of  the  University  of  London, 
tabulates  the  requisite  sleep  as  follows: 

7  year  old  boys  require  11  hours  of  sleep. 

9  year  old  boys  require  10%  hours  of  sleep. 

12  to  14  year  old  boys  require  9  to  10  hours  of 
sleep.1 

This  tabulation  has  governed  the  time  allowed 
for  sleep  in  the  school  programme  presented  on 
page  92. 

The  Sunday  programme  must  be  somewhat 
different.  Although  the  rising-bell  is  set  at  7 :45, 
it  is  true  that  this  is  far  too  late  an  hour  for  the 
Spring  Term,  and  local  conditions  must  govern. 
The  general  programme  for  the  day  however  has 
in  mind  the  idea  of  keeping  it  as  fully  occupied 
as  possible.  It  may  be,  if  the  school  maintains 
its  own  chapel  that  clergymen  can  be  had  more 
conveniently  for  the  afternoon,  in  which  case  it 
is  possible  to  make  the  morning  the  principal 
period  of  recreation,  and  devote  the  early  after- 
noon to  visitors  and  the  close  of  the  day  to  a 
vesper  service.  But  whatever  the  hour  of  ser- 
vice the  three  hours  or  more  on  Sunday  devoted 
to  out-door  activities  must  be  so  filled  as  to  prove 
distinctly  a  time  anticipated  with  pleasure  and 
remembered  with  fondest  of  recollections.  The 

1  School  Hygiene ;    Newsholme.    P.  90. 


102    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

austerity  of  the  Puritanical  Sabbath  should  be 
displaced  by  the  modern  "athletic  Christian.'1 
Roll-call  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon  is  a  mere 
formality.  Supper  may  come  at  six,  a  gladsome 
meal  at  the  close  of  a  happy  day.  In  the  even- 
ing there  is  the  weekly  home  letter  to  be  done, 
carefully,  but  not  supervised. 

If  we  pause  to  consider  the  clothing  of  the  boy 
at  school,  the  memory  of  our  own  days  at  a  mili- 
tary academy  may  creep  into  mind,  and  we  can 
well  remember  the  stiff  discomfort  of  the  uni- 
forms. Military  schools  have,  no  doubt,  their 
offices  to  fill  iu  the  sphere  of  education,  but  they 
are  bound  to  be  purely  institutional  in  character 
—a  spirit  furthest  from  the  welfare  of  the  aver- 
age lad,  for  it  is  only  at  the  small  home-school 
that  the  young  boy  will  have  the  full  and  proper 
attention  necessary  to  assist  him  in  his  "pursuit 
of  perfection."  The  military  school  however, 
offers  one  good  indirect  suggestion — the  uniform. 
If  the  repressive,  tight-fitting,  brass-buttoned 
suit  could  give  place  to  a  soft,  loose,  neat  and 
distinctive  school  costume — such  as  is  worn  by 
the  boys  at  ' '  Abbotsholme  "  for  instance — which 
every  lad  should  be  required  to  wear,  a  good  deal 
of  snobbishness  arising  from  differences  in  dress, 
which  even  youngsters  recognise,  would  spon- 
taneously vanish.  And  in  addition,  such  an 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  103 

uniform  would  tend  to  promote  a  boyish  solid- 
arity, to  say  nothing  of  advertising  the  school  in 
a  modest  way. 

As  to  the  quantity  of  clothing  and  its  texture, 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  older  method  of 
"bundling  up"  is  giving  place  to  a  more  modern 
idea  of  lighter  apparel;  although  Spencer,  and 
a  few  modern  physicians  as  well,  deprecate  too 
light  clothing  for  children  on  the  ground  that  a 
boy's  extra  energy  which  should  be  directed  to 
growing,  should  not  be  spent  in  keeping  him 
warm.  The  scientist  Sxes  this  rule:  "Put  on 
clothing  in  kind  and  quantity  sufficient  in  the 
individual  case  to  protect  the  body  effectively 
from  an  abiding  sensation  of  cold,  however 
slight. ' ' 1  This  is  a  good  standard  to  follow, 
providing  it  is  given  a  most  contemporary  in- 
terpretation. The  particular  problem  commands 
the  attention  of  the  director  of  the  school,  who 
should  take  into  consideration  the  climate  of  the 
locality,  the  occupations  of  the  boys,  and  the 
temperature  at  which  it  is  proposed  to  keep  the 
school.  The  lad  who  has  had  a  cold  bath  and  a 
good  romp  in  the  morning,  even  when  lightly 
dressed,  will  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the 
cold,  and  furthermore,  will  be  less  liable  to 

Education;     Spencer.     P.  263. 


104    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

grippe  and  "colds"  than  the  lad  living  under  a 
less  Spartan  regimen. 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  clothing,  the 
question  of  night-clothing  needs  some  attention. 
Fortunately  the  day  of  the  old-fashioned  night- 
shirt has  passed,  and  they  should  be  forever  bar- 
red from  a  dormitory.  Pyjamas  are  sane  and 
comfortable.  They  afford  protection  to  restless 
sleepers  who  are  apt  to  kick  off  the  bed-coverings, 
and  more  than  that,  prove  an  impediment  to  the 
practice  of  self-abuse.  The  pyjamas  should  not 
be  of  too  heavy  material,  nor  should  the  bedding 
be  too  abundant.  Mistakes  of  this  sort  contri- 
bute to  restlessness,  dreams,  and  other  unneces- 
sary conditions.  If  there  is  a  mistake  made,  let 
it  be  on  the  side  of  light  bed-clothes.  Spencer's 
rule  may  be  applied  in  this  direction — Let  there 
be  sufficient  bed-clothes  in  use,  so  that  the  boy  is 
warm  as  he  lies.  Heavier  coverings  may  be  at 
hand  and  if  the  boy  really  feels  the  need  of  them, 
he  will  have  the  energy  to  rouse  himself  and  pull 
them  over  him.  Minor  considerations  of  this 
nature  contribute  to  the  boy's  welfare,  and  the 
school  that  claims  to  perform  the  duties  of  the 
home,  must  not  fail  to  attend  to  even  the  smallest 
points  that  relate  to  a  lad's  comfort. 

The  traditional  "Saturday  night  bath"  must 
give  place  to  the  convenience  of  dormitory  ad- 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  105 

ministration.  "With  a  daily  "  ducking "  in  the 
morning,  a  "hot  shower"  after  exercising  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  average  washing-up  for  meals, 
it  is  a  question  whether  more  than  one  "hot  tub" 
is  needed  during  a  week.  This  is  governed  by 
circumstances;  but  the  weekly  scrubbing  must 
be  a  thorough  one,  and  should  be  supervised.  The 
lad  of  eight  or  ten  may  need  assistance  to  remove 
the  dirt  from  sacred  precincts,  such  as  "behind 
the  ears"  for  example,  or  perhaps  persuasion  to 
believe  that  it  is  more  than  "tan."  The  dor- 
mitory master  must  stand  ready  to  perform  such 
personal  service,  remembering  the  failures  of  his 
own  childhood.  Some  physicians  claim  that  baths 
should  never  be  taken  within  two  hours  of  a  meal, 
but  this  seems  an  exceptionally  long  interval. 

On  the  subject  of  swimming-pools  there  is 
much  to  be  said.  Many  of  the  leading  American 
schools  do  not  favor  them  on  hygienic  grounds. 
At  some  schools  they  have  proven  the  focus  for 
salacious  conversation  and  sexual  indecency. 
Properly  supervised  however,  both  in  respect  to 
frequent  refillings  and  judicious  use,  it  seems  as 
if  the  swimming-pool  were  a  valuable  adjunct  to 
any  school.  Certainly  the  exercise  brings  nearly 
all  the  muscles  into  play  and  actually  being  in 
the  water  means  a  very  close  touch  with  nature. 
Added  to  this  is  the  great  value  of  being  a  master 


106    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

of  the  art  of  swimming;  and  the  objections  on 
moral  grounds  can  certainly  be  eliminated  by 
a  director  in  charge,  who  understands  his  boys. 

Another  important  question  is  the  weekly  holi- 
day. There  is  the  traditional  whole  holiday, 
usually  Saturday,  though  in  some  schools  Mon- 
day or  even  Thursday.  A  free  day  Saturday 
encourages  the  privilege  of  week-end  absences. 
However  agreeable  this  may  prove  to  the  boy 
and  his  family,  or  whatever  relief  it  may  bring 
to  the  school,  it  has  the  one  great  disadvantage 
that  the  boy  is  so  frequently  exposed  to  con- 
tagious diseases.  This  is  equally  true  if  Mon- 
day were  the  holiday,  although  this  plan  has  one 
point  of  commendation — lessons  are  apt  to  be  the 
better  on  Tuesday  through  preparation  on  Mon- 
day night.  But  interruptions  in  the  school 
routine  are  always  the  source  of  trouble  where 
the  young  boy  is  concerned,  and  a  whole  day 
free,  either  before  or  after  Sunday  is  apt  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  old  adage,  that  "  Satan 
finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to  do. " 

Another  plan,  far  better  in  the  boarding- 
school,  and  in  use  in  practically  all  the  schools 
of  England,  as  well  as  in  many  of  the  leading 
boarding-schools  of  America,  is  the  Wednesday 
and  Saturday  "  Half  -Holiday."  By  that  plan 
the  morning  is  shortened  by  a  recitation  hour  on 


THE  DAY'S  WORK  107 

these  two  days,  and  the  afternoon  preparation 
period  omitted  entirely,  thus  giving  an  absolutely 
free  afternoon.  This  plan  is  sure  to  coincide  well 
with  the  athletic  interests  of  a  school,  facilitates 
the  operation  of  the  "credit  holiday"  scheme, 
which  will  find  discussion  later  (see  page  167), 
and  at  the  same  time  infringes  very  little  upon 
the  regularity  of  school  routine. 

The  recognition  of  incidental  state  holidays, 
with  the  exception  of  Thanksgiving  day,  is  un- 
necessary. Certain  American  boarding-schools 
that  do  not  grant  their  pupils  leave  of  absence  on 
the  national  feast  day,  have  substituted  the  ad- 
mirable scheme  of  inviting  their  patrons  to  dine 
at  the  school  then;  and  although  the  expense  of 
this  plan  may  be  a  serious  consideration,  it  has 
worked  out  well  in  other  ways  wherever  tried. 

The  regular  vacations  conclude  this  chapter. 
The  school  session  in  the  trying  climate  of  the 
Middle  Atlantic  States,  can  hardly  last  longer 
than  from  October  to  June.  This  gives  the  boy 
a  summer  of  unusual  length,  yet  the  eight  months 
of  school  afford  the  time  for  better  general 
development  than  the  public  school  can  produce 
in  ten.  This  is  because  the  boarding-school  has 
the  constant  supervision  of  the  lad,  which, 
rightly  directed,  is  bound  to  effect  the  maximum 
results  in  the  minimum  time. 


108    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

During  the  school-year  of  eight  months,  two 
short  vacations  are  in  order ;  fourteen  to  eighteen 
days  at  Christmas  time,  and  ten  days  in  the 
Spring.  This  proves  an  adequately  worked-out 
term  scheme  for  any  junior  boarding-school  in 
America,  and  it  is  one  which  permits  of  summer 
use  of  the  school  premises,  or  of  a  camping  plan 
supplementary  to  the  regular  school  work. 


VIII 
THE  CURRICULUM. 

AS  has  been  indicated  before,  the  cur- 
riculum should  fit  the  boy,  so  that  his 
four  sides — his  physical,  mental, 
moral  and  social  natures — may  find 
constant,  normal  and  proper  development  and 
training.  The  subjects  to  be  handled  in  the 
junior  boarding-school,  do  not  have  to  be  fixed 
with  that  unfortunate  utilitarian  purpose  in 
mind,  that  underlies  the  formulation  of  the 
public  school  curriculum.  The  intellectual  capa- 
city that  the  boy  shall  need  to  attain  personal 
excellence,  and  the  psychological  laws  suggested 
in  Chapter  IV  are  the  principal  factors  which 
determine  the  lessons  he  shall  study,  and  the  age 
at  which  he  shall  begin  them.  McMurry  is  right 
in  claiming  that  the  obsolete  and  useless  material 
should  be  eliminated  from  the  curriculum,  that 
it  should  be  simplified  by  correlation  as  far  as 
possible,  and  that  the  school  course  as  a  whole 
should  be  more  thoroughly  organised ;  *  yet  it  is 

1  Course    of    Study    in    the    Eight    Grades ; 
McMurry.    Pp.  21-23. 

109 


110    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

probable  that  a  closer  analysis  of  his  views 
would  disclose  the  fact  that  he  is  thoroughly  in 
sympathy  with  the  present  trend  of  the  public 
school's  curriculum,  which,  while  providing  a 
boy  with  much  that  he  may  find  useful,  is  con- 
stantly discarding  all  that  is  inspirational  in 
literary  lines.  It  is  important  that  the  boarding- 
school,  should  take  a  broader  outlook  on  intel- 
lectual development,  and  provide  the  boy  with 
subjects  of  wider  cultural  and  cultivating  con- 
tent at  a  time  when  he  is  mentally  equipped  to 
grasp  them  most  readily.  For  this  reason  the 
school  may  assume  a  somewhat  ungraded  appear- 
ance, and  yet  a  subject  may  be  quite  properly 
assigned  to  forms,  and  boys  as  properly  assigned 
to  classes  which  offer  the  work  nearest  to  their 
immediate  capacities.  It  is  strange  that  this  plan 
should  be  worked  out  so  well  in  the  majority  of 
English  schools  when  their  natural  inclination 
towards  hard  and  fast  regulations  is  borne  in 
mind.  But  they  do  it  by  having  all  the  mathe- 
matics classes  recite  one  hour,  the  Latin  classes 
another  hour,  etc.,  etc.,  to  various  form-masters, 
and  the  boy  is  fitted  in  according  to  his  progress. 
In  American  private  schools  the  departmental 
system  is  so  in  vogue,  that  taking  mathematics 
in  one  form,  Latin  in  another,  and  perhaps 
English  in  a  still  different  one,  would  involve  a 


THE    CURRICULUM  111 

hopeless  entanglement  of  the  average  schedule. 
Yet  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  depart- 
mental instruction,  especially  as  it  allows  the 
employment  of  specialists  in  each  particular 
subject,  and  gives  the  boy  a  chance  for  contact 
with  various  masters.  The  private  school  is  cen- 
surable if  it  fails  to  produce  far  better  results 
in  the  class-room  than  the  public  school,  for  not 
only  are  the  groups  of  pupils  much  smaller,  but 
the  masters  usually  have  a  range  of  college  edu- 
cation, travel  and  social  advantages  behind  them, 
in  which  the  average  normal  school  graduate  is 
quite  deficient. 

The  following  curriculum  is  suggested  for  use 
in  a  junior  boarding-school  which  would  accept 
a  boy  aged  nine  for  admission  to  the  first  form. 
The  work  in  that  form  presupposes  but  the 
simplest  preparation — a  little  working  knowl- 
edge of  the  four  fundamental  processes  of  arith- 
metic, the  ability  to  write  a  fairly  legible  hand 
and  to  read  intelligently  average  handwriting 
and  simple  printed  matter.  The  sixth  year  of 
this  curriculum  is  practically  equivalent  to  the 
first  year  of  work  in  the  public  high  school,  and  is 
only  provided  in  case  the  boy  is  not  sexually 
mature  enough  to  warrant  his  change  to  a 
secondary  boarding-school,  that  is,  one  offering 
a  four-year  college-preparatory  course,  at  the 
end  of  his  Fifth  Form  work. 


112    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

When  this  thesis  was  first  prepared  to  satisfy 
the  completion  of  certain  graduate  courses  in 
education,  the  writer  was  compelled  to  evaluate 
each  subject  in  the  curriculum;  but  cut  loose 
from  the  requirements  of  academic  theories,  and 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  very  practical  ex- 
perience and  success,  he  has  found  that  a  definite 
formulation  of  educational  values  is  far  less  im- 
portant than  the  consideration  of  the  effective 
teaching  of  such  subjects  as  common  opinion, 
and  the  experience  of  years  in  the  long-estab- 
lished schools,  have  designated  as  necessary  in 
the  curriculum.  It  is,  then,  with  all  due  respect, 
that  the  reader's  attention  is  directed  to  the 
hundred  and  one  books  already  published  on  the 
subject  of  educational  values,  while  this  treatise 
from  now  on  will  avoid  the  expression  of  even 
such  simple  theories  as  have  been  indulged  in, 
and  devote  its  pages  to  the  administrative  and 
practical  side  of  the  junior  boarding-school 

MATHEMATICS 

Form  I.    Elementary  Arithmetic. 

Form  II.  Common  fractions,  decimals  and 
compound  numbers. 

Form  III.  Percentage,  and  Arithmetic  com- 
pleted. 


THE    CURRICULUM  111 

Form  IV.  General  review  in  more  advanced 
text-book. 

Form  V  and  VI.  Concrete  Geometry  and 
Algebra  to  quadratics. 

Obsolete  topics  are  to  be  omitted  in  Arithmetic, 
and  problems  more  readily  solved  by  algebraic 
processes,  are  to  be  treated  as  such.  Particular 
care  and  attention  should  be  given  to  drill  in 
Mental  Arithmetic,  and  to  problems  in  Business 
Arithmetic,  solved  in  a  practical,  business  way. 
The  "spiral  method"  is  apt  to  sacrifice  a 
thorough  mastery  of  any  one  subject.  Thorough 
drill  in  the  fundamental  processes,  especially  the 
multiplication  tables,  is  essential.  Clear  and  ac- 
curate reasoning  should  not  be  expected  too 
soon.  It  is  a  power  which  develops  with  puberty 
and  Algebra  and  Geometry  are  subjects  in  which 
it  can  find  readier  expression  than  in  Arithmetic 
pure  and  simple.  Concrete  problems  are  always 
valuable.  Facility  and  accuracy  in  the  pro- 
cesses depend  more  upon  constant  drill  with 
smaller  numbers,  than  irregular  oral  work  in 
larger  figures. 

ENGLISH 

Spelling,  Penmanship  and  Reading  as  such, 
should  find  a  place  in  all  the  forms  and  should 
not  be  sacrificed  to  the  fetish  of  correlation, 


114     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Letter-writing  in  the  younger  forms  should  ex- 
pand to  the  weekly  and  daily  theme.  Theme 
work  should  always  be  considered  in  respect  to 
form,  style  and  organisation  of  content-matter, 
never  as  to  length.  The  schedule  in  fact  bars 
themes  over  two  hundred  words.  But  written 
expression  is  no  more  important  than  oral 
expression,  vocabulary  at  command,  pronuncia- 
tion, and  articulation.  Good  diction  is  very 
much  a  matter  of  imitation,  and  the  staff  should 
be  chosen  with  that  idea  in  view.  The  technical 
work  of  English  has  its  place  in  Grammar  and 
Rhetoric.  It  is  probable  that,  with  Latin  Gram- 
mar, English  Grammar  needs  less  consideration, 
but  Rhetoric,  or  as  the  modern  text-books  are 
styled — "Composition" — should  be  well  studied 
as  such.  School  dramatics  offer  splendid  op- 
portunities for  correlated  work  in  English,  and 
also  a  school  publication.  The  following  sug- 
gestions are  made  towards  the  boy's  introduc- 
tion to  literature: 

Form  I. 

"In  the  Days  of  the  Giants." 

"Stories  of  Great  Men." 

"Big  People  and  Little  People  of  Other 

Lands." 
"Robinson  Crusoe." 


THE    CURRICULUM  116 

Form  II. 

"Song  of  Hiawatha." 
"Alice  in  Wonderland. " 
"American  Life  and  Adventure." 
"Old  Greek  Stories." 

Form  III. 

"Andersen's  Fairy  Tales." 
"Tanglewood  Tales." 
"Stories  of  Ulysses." 
"Water  Babies." 

Form  IV. 

Heroic  Ballads. 

"Rip  an  Winkle"  and  "Legend  of  Sleepy 

Hollow." 

"Stories    of    English    History  "—Warren. 
Selections    from    Burroughs,    Longfellow, 

Hawthorne,  Dickens,  et  al. 

Form  V. 

"Alhambra"  and  "Sketch  Book." 
"Last  of  The  Mohegans." 
"Tom  Brown  at  Rugby." 
"Treasure  Island." 
"Tales  from  Shakespeare." 
"Courtship  of  Miles  Standish." 
"Vision  of  Sir  Launfal" 


116    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Form  VI. 

Masterpieces  of  American  Literature. 

"Evangeline." 

11  House  of  Seven  Gables." 

"Christmas  Carol " 

Selected  Plays  from  Shakespeare. 

Public  speaking  for  all  forms  is  a  good  old 
stand-by,  and  should  be  regularly  covered,  with 
encouragement  towards  extemporaneous  remarks 
and  debate  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  forms. 

HISTORY    AND    POLITICAL    GEOGRAPHY 

There  is  a  natural  alliance  between  these  two 
subjects  that  makes  correlation  practical.  A 
boy  appreciates  a  vigorous,  concrete  view  of 
History,  rather  than  its  philosophical  side,  and 
usually  is  keen  about  Geography,  especially  if 
the  master  has  a  fund  of  experience  to  draw 
upon,  and  introduces  a  certain  amount  of  clearly 
defined  work  for  preparation  in  the  form  of 
map-drawing. 

History  and  Geography  are  inspirational  sub- 
jects, and  may  be  made  to  reach  the  boy's  in- 
terest through  his  love  of  adventure  and  hero- 
worship.  It  is  probable  that  History  is  more 
rationally  developed  through  following  it  in  ita 
course  as  it  was  made,  and  for  those  who  feel 


THE    CURRICULUM  UT 

that  American  History  should  be  more  conspicu- 
ously featured,  it  is  suggested  that  it  be  intro- 
duced as  work  in  Reading. 

Form  I.     Introduction  to  Greek  History  through 

Mythology. 
Physical  Geography.     (See  Nature  Study.) 

Form  II.     Simple  Greek  History. 
Physical  Geography,  as  above. 

Form  III.     Simple  Roman  History. 

Political  Geography — Eastern  Hemisphere. 

Form  IV.     English  History. 

Political  Geography — Western  Hemisphere. 

Form  V.     American  History. 
Commercial  Geography. 

Form  VI.     Civil  Government. 

NATURE   STUDY   AND   PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY 

The  aim  of  Nature  Study  may  be  made  the 
understanding  on  a  boy's  part  of  the  develop- 
ment, growth  and  care  of  his  own  body.  Physical 
Geography  may  be  associated  with  this,  inas- 


Ill    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

much  as  the  subject  affords  an  opportunity  for 
the  lad  to  learn  the  conditions  of  life  existing  in 
the  world  beyond  his  own  immediate  vicinity. 
The  manner  in  which  these  subjects  are 
presented,  it  is  hoped,  will  encourage  the  boy  to 
learn  from  nature  the  wonders  of  life,  and  to  find 
the  expression  of  those  wonders  in  the  human 
form.  A  boy  at  puberty  should  be  able  to  ac- 
count for  his  own  existence,  and  to  realise  the 
responsibility  that  falls  on  the  fathers  of  the 
next  generation.  Before  leaving  the  junior 
boarding-school  the  ideals  of  pure  and  decent 
manhood  should  be  fixed  in  his  mind,  and  there 
is  no  more  rational  way  of  attaining  that  end 
than  through  a  study  of  nature,  supplemented 
by  the  intimate  friendship  of  an  older  man — 
either  the  headmaster  or  one  of  his  assistants,  in 
close  touch  with  the  boy. 

Form  I.     Study  of  common  birds  and  animals. 

Form  II.  Study  of  flowers,  trees,  vegetables  and 
seeds,  with  special  attention  to 
germination  and  cross-fertilisa- 
tion. 

Form  III.  Study  of  wild  plants,  insects  and 
animals.  Observations  of  the 
weather.  Simple  Physics. 


THE    CURRICULUM  119 

Form  IV.  Protective  devices  of  animals  and 
plants.  Vegetable  reproduction. 
Simple  Chemistry. 

Form  V.  Animal  reproduction.  Mineralogy. 
Physical  Geography. 

Form  VI.  Physiology  and  Hygiene.  Physical 
Geography. 

MODERN    LANGUAGES 

The  introduction  of  Modern  Languages  into 
the  junior  school  curriculum,  gives  the  boy  the 
opportunity  to  acquire  conversational  power  and 
proper  accent,  while,  psychologically,  it  is  the 
easiest  for  him  to  do  so.  Grammar,  composition 
and  translation  in  any  degree,  which  require 
preparation  should  not  come  in  the  earlier  forms. 
There  is  no  branch  of  learning  more  cultural 
than  the  acquiring  of  a  modern  tongue,  and  its 
value  is  not  only  intellectual,  but  practical.  The 
curriculum  of  the  school  should  offer  six  years 
of  either  French  or  German,  and  three  of  Latin ; 
yet  the  programme  might  be  flexible  enough  to 
allow  three  years  in  the  second  modern  language 
instead  of  Latin.  It  is  ill-advised  however,  to 
let  the  boy  make  such  a  decision  as  this.  A 


120    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

privilege  extended  to  one  should  mean  a  privilege 
extended  to  all,  and  the  headmaster  should  be 
far-sighted  enough  to  limit  irregularities.  The 
election  of  studies  may  prove  a  possibility  in 
the  upper  school,  but  seldom  in  the  lower. 

Form  I.    Conversation  (in  language  chosen). 
Form  II.    Conversation  and  simple  Reading. 

Form  III.    The  elements  of  Grammar  and  Com- 
position. 

Form  IV.     Grammar,  Composition,  Memorising. 

Form  V.     Composition  and  Grammar.    Reading : 
In  French— "Contes  et  Legendes." 

"Fables/1  etc.,  LeFontaine. 
In  German— "Immensee"-— Storm. 

"Hocher  als  die  Kirche,"  etc. 

Form  VI.    French  Reading: 

"La  Tache  de  Petit  Pierre." 
"La  Tulipe  Noire/'  etc. 
German  Reading: 
Schiller's  "Wilhelm  TelL" 
Lessing's  "Minna  von  Barnhelm/'  etc. 


THE    CURRICULUM  121 

LATIN 

While  there  is  a  loudly-voiced  protest  against 
the  study  of  the  Classic  Tongues  at  present,  the 
argument  still  holds  true  that  in  Latin  and 
Greek  are  to  be  found  the  true  sources  of 
European  Literature,  and  to  appreciate  litera- 
ture beyond  its  mere  content,  some  knowledge  of 
the  languages  in  which  it  was  founded  must  be 
the  student's  property.  This,  of  course,  is  an 
unnecessary  accomplishment  for  the  artisan,  but 
for  the  gentleman  it  is  an  essential  element  of 
his  education.  America  has  become  so  utilitarian 
in  its  temper,  and  so  afraid  that  an  acknowledge- 
ment of  good  points  in  English  education  may 
thrust  us  again  under  the  yoke  of  George  III, 
that  Latin  bids  fair  to  be  less  and  less  studied  as 
the  years  go  by.  Although  foreign  to  the  public 
school  curriculum,  there  is  both  the  time  and 
reason  for  it  in  the  private  school.  The  study  of 
its  grammar  eliminates  much  drudgery  from 
English.  Historically  treated,  it  vitalises  two 
thousand  years.  Should  the  question  arise;  "If 
Latin  is  so  important,  why  not  include  Greek  as 
well?"  the  reply  would  be;  "Greek  might  well 
be  studied  in  our  fifth  and  sixth  forms  were  the 
demand  for  it  greater  and  the  difficulties  of  the 
tongue  less.  But  considering  its  points  in  com- 


122     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

mon  with  Latin,  gained  by  the  study  of  Latin, 
it  is  better  left  to  the  days  of  the  secondary 
school,  when  Latin  shall  have  been  fairly  well 
mastered."  Returning  then  to  the  three  years 
of  Latin,  the  work  may  be  distributed  as  fol- 
lows: 

Form  IV.  Introductory  work  to  the  Subjunc- 
tive Mood.  Simple  readings. 

Form  V.  Completion  of  the  essentials  of  Gram- 
mar and  Syntax.  Readings.  In- 
troductory work  in  Composition. 

Form  VI.    Simplified  " Caesar."    Composition. 

MANUAL  TRAINING 

President  Eliot  has  well  said;  "The  human 
mind  pervades  the  body.  It  is  not  in  the  head, 
but  it  is  all  over  the  body;  and  when  you  train 
the  hand,  or  the  eye,  or  the  ear,  you  train  the 
mind."1  As  Tyler  adds,  "Hand  and  mind  are 
Siamese  twins.  The  hand  was  intended  to  be 
used  as  the  servant  of  the  planning  mind.  Their 
centres  in  the  brain  stand  in  closest  relation  with 
the  highest  areas  of  thought.  Thus  anatomy 

1  Growth  and  Education;  Tyler.    P.  228. 


THE    CURRICULUM  IIS 

teaches  that  manual  exercise  can  not  fail  to  de- 
velop mental  power."  1  Manual  Training  is  un- 
limited in  its  application.  It  affords  laboratory 
practice  in  every  subject.  It  enables  the  boy  to 
realise  his  thoughts  in  action.  It  is  the  summit 
of  practical  education.  It  balances  with  the 
humanities,  the  sciences  and  the  Classics,  to  give 
an  all-sided  growth.  It  fixes  in  the  boy's  mind 
the  habit  of  visualising  and  materialising  his 
conceptions,  an  instinct  that  will  remain  through 
life.  Manual  Training  as  such  for  younger  boys 
should  include  rafia,  sloyd,  modelling,  and  such 
other  occupations  as  awaken  response  in  the 
particular  group  of  pupils  dealt  with.  The  two 
great  points  about  teaching  it  are  as  follows: 
First,  careful  work  should  be  insisted  upon ;  and 
second,  the  work  must  be  manual  in  every  pos- 
sible respect,  and  methods  of  teaching  it  which 
might  be  considered  as  verging  on  the  purely 
intellectual  (for  example — note  books  or  writ- 
ten analyses),  should  hardly  be  introduced. 

There  are  other  minor  subjects  finding  place 
very  properly  in  the  curriculum,  such  as  Vocal 
Music,  Drawing,  Calisthenics  ,etc.,  etc. 

An  appreciation  of  music  and  an  ability  to 
sing,  to  say  nothing  of  a  talent  for  instrumental 

1  Growth  and  Education.    Tyler.    P.  229. 


124     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

music  being  developed,  are  as  important  in 
general  cultivation  as  History  or  the  art  of 
Letter-writing.  Normal  boys  usually  express 
some  talent  for  music,  and  an  opportunity  for 
singing  at  least  should  find  place  in  the  curri- 
culum. A  school  song  arouses  a  splendid  amount 
of  loyalty  and  good  cheer,  and  is  a  resource  that 
no  school  can  afford  to  neglect. 

Drawing,  for  its  part,  is  a  form  of  manual 
training,  yet  far  more  aesthetic.  It  is  one  of 
the  earliest  forms  of  self-expression,  and  often 
the  means  whereby  a  boy  may  discover  himself. 
The  work  must  be  along  lines  that  will  embrace 
the  elements  both  of  the  industrial  and  the  fine 
arts,  and  develop  by  spontaneous  response,  the 
inherent  power  in  the  individual. 

The  chapter  on  Physical  Training  discusses 
the  subject  of  calisthenics  at  length,  and  the 
recommendation  is  later  made  that  the  morning 
recess  be  occupied  with  a  "setting-up  drill,"  if 
no  other  regular  time  for  calisthenics  find  place 
on  the  programme. 

The  time  allotment  is  an  important  phase  of 
the  schedule.  The  programme  presented  on  the 
following  page  is  planned  to  bring  the  best 
results;  but  in  fixing  definitely  the  hours  for 
subjects,  the  heavier  subjects — Mathemathics, 
Latin  and  English — should  have  the  first  recita- 


THE    CURRICULUM  125 

tion  periods  of  the  day  when  the  mind  is  alert, 
and  the  more  ready  to  respond.  The  value  of 
subjects  in  "points,"  should  correspond  closely 
to  the  number  of  recitations  a  week,  four-point 
subjects  being  allowed  four  hours,  two-point 
subjects  either  two  or  three  hours,  and  one-point 
subjects,  one  hour  or  less. 

Although  a  strict  adherence  to  the  prescribed 
course  has  been  urged,  conditions  will  always 
arise  demanding  some  flexibility  of  programme; 
but  while  the  curriculum  may  permit  some  in- 
dividual adjustment,  the  routine  of  the  school 
should  be  rigidly  adhered  to.  Plainess  but  ful- 
ness of  life  is  what  the  school  should  provide  the 
boy.  "Luxury  and  all  that  goes  to  weaken  life 
work  is  absolutely  out  of  place  in  school,  for,  as 
we  shall  come  to  note  more  plainly,  work,  in  its 
broadest  sense,  WORK,  and  the  JOY  of  work, 
is  the  business  of  the  school. ' ' 

SCHEDULE  OP  WEEKLY  TIME  ALLOWANCES  (  periods ) 


Prepared  Work 

Form  I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

Mathemathics 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

English 

6 

6 

6 

4 

4 

4 

Latin 

4 

4 

4 

1  Personality  in  Education ;    Conover.    P.  69. 


126    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

History  222222 

Political  Geography  222222 
Nat.  Study  &  Phys.  Geog.  333222 
Modern  Languages  222333 

19  19    19  21    21    21 
Unprepared  Work. 

Drawing  222222 

Manual  Training  333222 

Study  Periods  14  14    14  13    13    13 

38  38    38  38    38    38 

This  schedule  is  based  on  thirty-eight  periods 
per  week,  seven  on  Monday,  Tuesday,  Thursday 
and  Friday,  and  five  on  Wednesday  and  Satur- 
day. Perhaps  two  might  be  added  for  Sunday 
making  one  for  Bible  Class  and  one  for  letter- 
writing,  according  to  the  plan  on  page  93.  At 
any  rate,  the  Wednesday  and  Saturday  Half- 
holiday  arrangement  is  assumed  as  a  basis  for 
the  above. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  schedule  allows  nearly 
as  many  periods  of  preparation  as  there  are 
prepared  recitations.  The  ratio  is  certainly  suffi- 
cient when  it  is  remembered  that  so  much  of  the 
work  with  pre-adlescents  needs  to  be  done  in 
class,  and  that  any  habits  of  loafing  encouraged 


THE    CURRICULUM  127 

by  too  much  time  in  the  school-room,  are  per- 
nicious, and  difficult  to  efface  in  later  years. 

There  are  other  things  which  develop  per- 
sonal excellence  that  might  have  official  place  in 
the  schedule,  but  being  matters  more  of  physical, 
moral,  or  social  content,  they  fall  more  naturally 
within  the  "free  time"  of  the  boy.  Swimming, 
dancing,  riding,  etc.,  should  certainly  be  mas- 
tered by  every  boy  before  he  leaves  the  junior 
boarding-school,  but  the  introduction  of  these 
activities  into  the  official  curriculum  must 
depend  upon  local  conditions,  and  the  economical 
division  of  time.  The  curriculum  in  its  entirety 
should  propose  for  its  end,  sound,  upright,  ac- 
complished and  lovable  boys,  and  every  subject 
or  activity  needs  careful  weighing  before  being 
introduced.  The  point  of  view  of  the  usefulness 
of  subjects  and  activities,  varies  directly  as  the 
educator  may  hold  that  the  classes  require  vitally 
different  up-bringing  from  the  masses.  The  ad- 
vice given  by  Mr.  Merriam  in  his  paper  on 
"Fundamentals  in  the  Elementary  School  Cur- 
riculum, "  read  before  the  National  Education 
Association  at  Chicago,  in  February,  1909,  indi- 
vidually interpreted,  may  be  of  value  to  the  head- 
master. "We  are  learning  that  the  most 
adequate  adjustment  to-day  prepares  for  the 
adequate  adjustment  to-morrow.  The  boy  cares 


128    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

little  to  prepare  for  the  future ;  his  great  desire 
is  to  act  now.  This  child-view  is  in  strictest  ac- 
cord with  the  recent  thought  designated  by  the 
term  *  pragmatism. '  To  use  the  words  of  Pro- 
fessor Woodbridge :  '  It  would  aim  to  introduce 
subjects  into  the  general  course  of  study,  at  the 
times  when  these  subjects  are  needed  for  the 
extension  of  knowledge  already  acquired  ... 
It  would  make  the  point  of  departure  in  the 
education  of  the  individual  students  the  student 
himself  and  his  environment,  and  thus  work 
upward.11'1 


Educational  Review;  April,  1909.     VoL  37. 
No.  4.    P.  393. 


IX 
THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF 

IT  must  be  evident  to  the  reader  that  the 
personnel  of  the  staff  of  the  junior  board- 
ing-school is  of  no  small  importance  in  the 
successful  administration  of  the  institution. 
In  order  to  make  the  school's  curriculum  and 
routine  effective,  a  master  must  not  only  prove 
the  boy's  instructor,  but  his  friend,  his  play- 
fellow, his  confidant,  his  exemplar,  and  his 
parent  as  well.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a 
prospective  patron  to  meet,  and  to  form  an 
opinion  of  all  the  men  with  whom  his  son  may 
be  associated  in  the  school,  but  he  should  assure 
himself  of  the  intuition  and  integrity  of  the 
headmaster,  and  safely  leave  it  to  him  to  secure 
the  best  men  obtainable  to  look  after  his  boy. 
It  is  no  easy  matter  to  find  a  man  of  sterling 
character,  one  really  fond  of  working  with  young 
boys,  strongly  masculine,  and  yet  gifted  with 
patience  and  other  feminine  qualities  which  make 
for  proficiency  in  the  care  and  management  of 
pre-adolescent  boys. 

129 


130    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Some  junior  schools  have  accepted  a  few 
women  as  teachers.  Dr.  Henderson  rather  ap- 
proves of  them,  but  thinks  "the  plan  is  exceed- 
ingly bad,  and  especially  for  sturdy,  growing, 
virile  boys,  if  the  women  be  inexperienced  young 
girls,  just  from  college  or  normal  school,  and 
quite  unwilling  and  unable  to  deal  with  the 
vital,  bodily  side  of  life  .  .  .  They  who  fail 
in  this  work  are  much  less  to  blame  than  the 
older  person  who  imposes  so  strange  a  task,  and 
that  they  do  fail,  I  think  every  headmaster  who 
has  received  boys  from  their  hands  would  be 
obliged  to  bear  witness  .  .  .  And  yet  it  is 
desirable  that  003-8  should  come  at  all  stages  of 
their  lives  under  the  influence  of  good  women, 
and  have  the  benefit  of  their  wisdom  and  point 
of  view  •  .  .  The  way  out  (of  this  dilemma) 
is  very  simple ;  it  is  to  have  both  men  and  women 
.  .  .  an  elder  woman  to  deal  with  the  younger 
children,  tenderly  but  effectively,  and  with  that 
matronly  modesty  which  is  not  appalled  by  a 
naked  child  and  his  healthy  appetites;  a  man, 
strong  and  gentle,  to  give  the  sloyd,  and  some 
other  sides  of  the  work. ' ' l 

1  Education  and  the  Larger  Life ;  Henderson, 
P.  364. 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF         131 

An  ideal  teaching  force  of  this  sort  is  almost 
an  impracticability  in  the  small  boarding-school, 
where  the  economic  value  of  the  teacher  must  be 
considered.  The  right  woman  would  certainly 
add  "new  wisdom  and  point  of  view,"  but  the 
right  man  can  achieve  almost  the  same  results  in 
that  direction,  and  very  much  more  in  others,  if 
at  least  assured  of  the  co-operation  of  one  woman 
in  the  capacity  of  house-mother.  A  woman  can 
not  be  a  boy's  play-mate,  disciplinarian,  athletic 
leader  nor  real  instructor  in  the  school  arts.  But 
she  has  the  right  to  approach  his  spiritual  nature, 
to  comfort  in  moments  of  discouragement,  and  to 
applaud  at  times  of  success.  The  boy  however, 
is  a  man  in  the  making,  and  should  be  made  a 
man  by  men. 

The  qualifications  of  the  "right  man"  are  diffi- 
cult to  define.  His  selection  is  perhaps  the  head- 
master 's  hardest  problem,  for  upon  his  assistants 
depends  the  welfare  of  the  boys  and  the  success 
of  the  school.  The  school  needs  an  instructor 
not  only  cultured,  but  cultivated,  with  all  that 
that  term  implies.  Men  such  as  these  are  hard  to 
find  among  the  recruits  from  whose  ranks  the 
teacher  is  usually  drawn.  College  degrees  assure 
a  certain  modicum  of  culture  and  look  well  in 
the  school  catalogue,  but  they  guarantee  no  real 
polish,  no  "savoire  vivre"  beyond  the  expe- 


132     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

riences  of  the  university.  The  proof  that  this 
' '  right  man ' '  for  the  lower  school  is  hard  to  find, 
is  merely  in  the  observation  that  the  demand  far 
exceeds  the  supply.  The  young  man  just  out  of 
college  who  essays  teaching,  will  probably  be 
more  successful  in  upper  school  work  than  in 
lower,  for  his  own  recent  experience  as  a  second- 
ary school  pupil,  and  his  immediate  enthusiasm 
for  his  "alma  mater/'  to  say  nothing  of  the 
possible  drudgery  in  teaching  elementary  sub- 
jects, the  uncertainty  of  the  recognition  of 
academic  seniority,  and  the  limited  financial 
prospects  in  this  particular  line, — all  are  objec- 
tions to  taking  up  work  in  the  junior  school.  A 
man  somewhat  more  mature,  reverts  with  greater 
facility  to  articulation  with  the  interests  of  boy- 
hood. Though  he  has  left  the  "  Court  of  Boy- 
ville"  years  ago,  he  may  yet  win  a  quasi  re- 
entrance  as  privy-councillor.  More  than  this  he 
can  not  hope  for,  but  this  alone  will  enable  him 
to  achieve  his  purpose. 

Dr.  Thring,  the  famous  English  headmaster, 
said:  "There  is  no  more  tendency  in  boys  to 
betray  their  friends  than  there  is  in  men;  nay, 
not  as  much.  But,  then,  who  are  their  friends  t 
The  whole  plan  and  practice  of  the  school  must 
convince  them  that  they  and  their  governors 
truly  form  one  body,  and  that  the  government 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF    US 

is  their  friend,™  and  again  on  another  page  of 
"Education  and  School/1  "If  truth  and  honor 
are  required  in  a  school,  all  things  must  be 
framed  in  such  a  way  as  to  work  out  the  objects 
professed  with  thorough  truth;  and  any  want 
of  truth,  anything  that  is  false  will  inevitably 
find  its  way  into  the  life  of  the  boys  and  taint  it 
And  no  wonder;  nothing  is  detected  so  soon  as 
inconsistency,  and  eyes  looking  upward  see 
sharply.  Those  who  stand  low  on  the  ladder 
observe  the  dirt  under  the  boots  of  those  above 
them,  however  spotless  their  coats  may  be,  and 
are  apt  to  care  little  for  preachments  dropped 
down  from  aloft,  telling  them  to  keep  clean  and 
be  good.  Those  who  look  up,  ought  to  see  no 
dirt.  Truth  is  required  to  produce  truth,  and 
when  the  machinery  is  right,  and  all  things  are 
working  truly,  truth  may  be  fairly  expected  to 
return,  and  boys  may  be  trusted,  and  can  be 
trusted,  safely."1 

Home  feels  that  one  of  the  prime  requisites 
of  a  successful  teacher  is  interest.  "Interest," 
he  says,  "begets  interest.  There  is  nothing  so 
contagious  as  a  feeling.  Given  a  teacher  him- 
self brimming  with  interest  in  the  subject  taught 

1  Education  and  School;  Thring.    Pp.  29,  30. 


134    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING  SCHOOL 

for  its  own  sake  and  for  the  pupil's  sake,  and 
that  is  a  rare  and  frigid  class  indeed  that  will 
not  thaw  out  under  his  genial  influence. ' ' ! 

Speaking  on  ' '  Education  as  a  Career ' '  former 
President  Eliot  of  Harvard  said  that  "a  teacher 
may  look  for  four  returns:  First,  the  real  de- 
light he  finds  in  imparting  knowledge;  Second, 
the  pleasure  he  experiences  in  the  response  of 
his  pupil ;  Third,  the  public  consideration  which 
may  attend  to  a  remarkable  degree  the  work  of 
a  successful  teacher ;  and  Fourth,  the  making  of 
disciples. ' ' '  And  yet  a  man  must  live,  and  not 
only  live,  but  provide  against  old  age.  There 
must  be  some  financial  quid  pro  quo,  except  in 
the  rare  instances  of  wealthy  and  philanthropi- 
cally  inclined  men.  There  is  a  cold  matter-of- 
fact  side  to  the  shield  beyond  the  "satisfaction  to 
be  found  in  the  work/'  and  it  must  be  faced. 
Without  the  hope  of  founding  in  some  dim,  dis- 
tant future,  an  establishment  of  his  own,  what 
has  the  under-master  to  look  forward  tot  Is  he 
teaching  for  a  mere  pittance  because  incapable 
of  earning  a  living  otherwise?  If  so,  he  is  equally 
out  of  place  as  teacher.  It  may  seem  a  sweeping 

1  Philosophy  of  Education ;  Home.    P.  195. 
•Sanders  Theatre,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Tues., 
Apr.  13,  1909. 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF         135 

statement  to  make,  but  a  man  who  is  unable  to 
earn  his  living  in  some  other  way  as  well,  is  in- 
competent to  train  a  boy  for  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  world. 

The  school  should  pay  the  master  a  salary  suffi- 
cient to  provide  him  with  all  the  necessities  of 
life  and  a  few  of  its  luxuries,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  permit  his  retiring  on  a  modest  com- 
petency from  his  savings,  when  his  days  of  effi- 
ciency are  over,  for  a  time  must  come  when 
teaching  is  no  longer  good  for  the  teacher,  and 
his  time  of  efficiency  is  more  limited  with 
younger  boys  than  with  older.  Our  optimist, 
Dr.  Henderson,  paints  a  rosy  future  for  him  how- 
ever, "He  has  given  his  best  to  the  work,  and 
he  has  gotten  the  best  out  of  the  work.  To  be 
at  once  and  always  a  teacher  is  a  very  poor  plan 
of  life.  It  is  much  better  to  regard  the  teaching 
as  a  contribution  and  a  discipline,  and  then  to 
pass  on.  When  one  has  made  the  contribution, 
and  reaped  the  discipline,  one  is  bound  by  the 
requirements  of  the  experimental  life,  to  seek  a 
larger  personal  reaction  and  a  theatre  for  greater 
social  service.  In  doing  this  a  man  does  not  turn 
his  back  upon  old  interests  and  pursuits.  He 
simply  broadens  and  extends  them.  As  an  in- 
vestigator, as  a  writer,  as  an  artist,  he  carrier 
his  branch  one  or  many  steps  further  and  touches 


136     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

a  larger  audience.  As  a  public-minded  house- 
holder, as  a  statesman,  he  may  bring  his  ripened 
powers  to  the  service  of  a  still  larger  destiny. 
.  *  .  .  I  am  emphasising  this  strongly  be- 
cause on  all  sides  one  sees  feeble  dispirited  teach- 
ing, and  worn-out,  discouraged  teachers.  One 
can  not  communicate  what  one  has  not  got,  and 
it  is  abundant,  beautiful,  glorious  life  that  we 
want."1 

Of  course  "the  profession  of  teaching  does  not 
propose  as  its  object  the  making  of  money" 
(Eliot),  and  yet  a  master  in  a  boarding-school, 
deprived  at  least  for  many  years  of  the  sacred 
privilege  of  home-making,  can  hardly  be  justified 
in  following  a  vocation  that  yields  only  a  phil- 
anthropic contribution  to  the  social  weal,  if  he 
has  no  other  career  in  view,  and  is  not  himself 
in  funds  for  the  term  of  his  natural  life.  Perhaps 
these  are  the  reasons  why  so  many  men  duly 
qualified  to  serve,  use  the  profession  as  a  tem- 
porary stepping-stone  between  college  and  per- 
manent life-work,  and  do  not  labor  with  the  same 
depth  of  interest,  though  not  lacking  in  power, 
that  we  might  expect  from  a  master  making 
work  with  boys  his  life-career,  at  least  as  far 

1  Education  and  the  Larger  Life ;  Henderson. 
P.  367. 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF        137 

ahead  as  he  can  see  it.  Perhaps  some  co-opera- 
tive business  policy  on  a  school's  part  might 
assist  the  solution  of  the  financial  problem,  still 
this  suggestion  is  vague  of  formulation. 

There  is  really  as  little  encouragement  to  enter 
the  vocation  of  a  master  in  a  lower  school,  as 
there  is  to  hazard  funds  in  the  establishment  of 
such  schools.  The  headmaster  of  an  English 
preparatory  school,  the  Rev.  C.  Black,  of  Colwall, 
Malvern,  in  a  report  upon  the  "Economics  of 
the  Preparatory  School"  made  to  the  Royal 
Education  Committee  in  1906  says:  "The  busi- 
ness is  the  most  capricious  of  all  trades;  though 
as  regards  brain  and  character,  the  school- 
master 's  work  may  be  of  the  noblest. ' ' 1  The 
success  of  the  preparatory  school,  Mr.  Black  feels 
depends  very  much  on  the  personality  of  the 
headmaster.  Many  successful  schoolmasters 
have  calculated  that  4%  is  the  outside  interest 
they  are  reaping  on  the  capital  that  has  been 
sunk ;  and  the  man  would  be  sanguine  who  would 
ever  hope  to  realise  on  the  capital  at  par. 

"The  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen" 
has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  professionally 
trained  teacher.  In  so  far  as  school  methods  arc 
concerned,  its  recommendations  are  not  of  par- 

1  Royal  Education  Report,  1906. 


138     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

ticular  interest  or  application  in  the  private 
school's  curriculum,  but  the  junior  school  will 
do  well  to  heed  its  suggestion  regarding  the  em- 
ployment of  teachers  who  have  some  knowledge 
of  psychology  as  a  "lamp  unto  their  feet,"  in 
their  work  with  boys.  The  Committee  recom- 
mends "that  early  in  their  course  of  study 
teachers  in  training  assume  as  true  the  well- 
known  facts  of  psychology  and  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  education,  and  make  their  later  study 
and  practice  in  the  light  of  these  principles. 
These  principles  thus  become  the  norm  of  educa- 
tional thought,  and  their  truth  is  continually 
demonstrated  by  subsequent  experience.  From 
this  time  theory  and  practice  should  proceed 
together  in  mutual  aid  and  support."1  Even 
this  remarkable  Committee  has  less  to  say  about 
method  than  might  be  supposed.  After  all  it 
is  the  eclectic  in  education  who  is  the  best 
teacher.  The  inductive  method  may  do  here, 
or  the  deductive  there,  but  it  is  the  productive 
method  that  counts  in  teaching  the  school  arts. 
The  moral  standing  of  the  master  is  of  vital 
importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  school.  The 
intuition  of  the  headmaster  must  prove  the  judge 
of  a  candidate's  status  in  this  matter.  The 

1  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen.    P.  24. 


THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  STAFF        139 

head  of  a  school  should  be  so  sure  of  his  choice 
of  men,  that  any  criticism  directed  against 
them,  he  may  consider  as  a  reflection  upon  his 
own  judgment. 

There  is,  on  the  whole,  but  one  word  which 
sums  up  the  qualifications  of  a  good  teacher,  and 
that  is — Personality.  "Rules,"  says  Conover, 
"count  for  very  little,  and  in  the  long  run  for 
worse,  if  the  man  is  not  behind  .  .  .  But  if 
there  is  the  character  worthy  of  the  form,  there 
can  not  be  too  much  stress  laid  upon  the  latter. 
The  outward  expression  is  what  first  catches  the 
attention,  and  is  the  natural  medium  for 
thoughts  high,  or  thoughts  low. ' ' * 

"Lord  God,"  commented  Thomas  Elyot, 
"How  many  good  and  clean  wits  of  children  be 
now-a-days  perished  by  ignorant  school- 
masters!"1 


1  Personality  in  Education ;    Conover.    P.  16. 
a  Education  during  the  Renaissance ;     Wood- 
ward.   P.  290. 


LOCATION  AND  EQUIPMENT 

THERE  is  an  American  tendency  to 
judge  value  by  price,  but  it  is  not 
advantage-taking  in  that  respect, 
which  is  responsible  for  the  compara- 
tively high  charges  that  the  junior  boarding- 
school  has  to  make.  The  school,  primarily, 
should  not  be  a  business  enterprise ;  yet  the  fact 
remains  that  it  must  be  successful  financially,  to 
be  successful  educationally.  The  economics  of 
administration  are  left  for  discussion  to  a  follow- 
ing chapter,  but  even  here  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  cost  of  the  school's  premises  and 
equipment,  is  in  direct  ratio  to  its  proximity  to 
a  metropolis  from  which  the  majority  of  its 
patronage  may  be  expected.  However  safe  the 
boy  may  be  in  care  of  a  boarding-school,  and  in 
fact,  however  much  better  off  by  living  in  a 
district  decidedly  distant  from  the  city,  it  still 
seems  to  hold  true  that  parents  feel  more  secure 
if  the  boy  is  less  remotely  situated,  and  are,  no 
doubt,  willing  to  pay  an  extra  price  for  a  larger 
sense  of  security  and  ease  of  mind.  Then  too, 
they  are  able  to  visit  the  lad  with  greater  facil- 

140 


LOCATION    AND    EQUIPMENT  141 

ity;  really  an  unfortunate  thing  in  most  cases, 
and  yet  a  situation  that  for  the  present,  must  be 
endured. 

Generally  speaking,  a  radius  of  fifty  miles 
from  a  metropolis  is  the  greatest  distance  that 
should  be  considered  in  determining  the  location 
of  a  school  for  young  boys.  Within  that  radiua, 
from  even  the  Atlantic  Seaboard  cities,  a  reason- 
ably high  altitude  and  sufficiently  rural  isolation 
may  be  secured.  If  the  school  must  begin  in  a 
homestead  converted  to  its  use,  many  perplex- 
ities arise;  yet  even  old  buildings  may  be 
renovated,  and  be  very  suitably  arranged  for 
the  purposes  of  a  small  school.  It  is  infinitely 
better,  however,  to  have  an  establishment  espe- 
cially designed  and  built;  one  which  offers  the 
conditions  under  which  the  best  work  may  be  ac- 
complished. 

There  is  something  so  pleasing  and  practical 
in  the  English  type  of  school  architecture,  that 
one  should  hardly  fail  to  follow  it  in  the  erection 
of  a  plant.  As  the  junior  school  will  probably 
fix  thirty  boys  as  its  capacity,  one  building  with 
connected  wings,  the  gymnasium  excepted,  can 
very  well  supply  all  necessary  accommodation*. 
The  stable,  garage,  etc.,  would  be  separate  of 
course.  There  is  a  great  question  whether  there 
ia  any  need  of  a  gymnasium  for  gymmurt.im.  t§ 


142    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

apparatus  work  is  unnecessary  for  pre-adol- 
escents,  and  the  plan  of  the  school  should  b» 
toward  open-air  activities.  Dressing-rooms  and 
"showers"  are  quite  necessary,  but  they  might 
be  in  the  basement  of  the  main  building.  As  a 
basket-ball  court,  a  place  for  school  entertain- 
ments and  receptions,  public  exercises  and  the 
like,  a  gymnasium  is  of  great  use,  and  to  afford 
extra  seating  capacity,  a  gallery  can  very  easily 
be  combined  with  a  suspended  running-track. 
The  swimming-pool  is,  no  doubt,  another  im- 
portant side  of  the  gymnasium,  but  it  may  be  in 
a  building  by  itself.  Many  schools  oppose  them 
on  the  grounds  that  they  are  un-hygienic,  and 
expensive  to  build  and  operate.  The  personal 
observation  of  the  writer  leads  to  the  conclusion 
that  not  infrequently  in  schools  and  Young 
Men 's  Christian  Associations  the  swimming-pools 
have  been  more  the  source  of  moral  than  of 
physical  contagion,  but  that  adequately  super- 
vised and  judiciously  used,  they  serve  the  cause 
of  health  and  decency,  as  much,  if  not  more, 
than  many  of  the  other  sides  of  the  school.  Be- 
sides this,  they  add  to  the  school's  equipment  an 
attraction  appealing  to  the  boy-universal,  and 
hence  of  the  greatest  advertising  value.  But  to 
return  to  the  school  building  itself. 


LOCATION  AND  EQUIPMENT  14S 

The  basement  of  the  building  or  building! 
should  include  the  central  heating-plant,  toilets, 
laundry,  store-rooms,  repair  shop,  and  perhaps 
the  manual-training  and  dressing  rooms.  The 
main  floor  of  the  main  building  may  include  the 
school  office,  the  headmaster's  study,  the  public 
reception  rooms,  the  boys'  living-room,  the 
chapel  and  the  general  hall.  On  the  second  floor, 
and  the  third  if  necessary,  will  be  the  dormi- 
tories, quarters  for  headmaster  and  assistants, 
etc.,  etc.  Each  dormitory  should  have  a  wash- 
room, bath,  and  toilet  adjoining  for  night  use. 
One  wing  of  the  school  should  be  given  over  to  the 
dining-room,  kitchen,  pantries,  etc.,  with  the  ser- 
vants quarters  above,  and  the  other  wing  to  class- 
rooms, school-room,  laboratory,  etc.,  etc. 

The  chapter  on  The  Day's  Work  discusses  at 
length  the  morning  and  evening  routine  of  the 
dormitory.  Two  alcove  dormitories  with  a  capa- 
city of  fifteen  boys  each,  with  a  master's  room 
apiece,  might  be  so  arranged  as  to  use  the  same, 
or  adjacent  wash-rooms  and  toilets,  thus  minim- 
ising the  expense  and  care  of  plumbing.  The 
winter  dressing-room  as  suggested,  might  also  be 
common  property,  with  its  essential  function  the 
provision  of  a  comfortable  place  in  cold  weather, 
when  the  dormitory,  with  its  windows  wide  open 
over  night,  is  far  too  chilly  a  place  to  dress  in, 


144    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

even  for  the  unpampered.  The  boys  should  have 
a  special  stairway,  constructed  with  the  idea  of 
reducing  noise,  and  fire-proof.  In  a  separate 
and  convenient  portion  of  the  building,  the  linen- 
room,  house-keeper's  quarters,  guest  rooms,  and 
the  infirmary  should  be  located. 

Edward  R.  Shaw,  in  his  book,  "School 
Hygiene, ' '  gives  a  most  comprehensive  discussion 
on  the  hygienic  conditions  that  should  obtain  in 
the  school  *  *  per  se. "  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  take 
his  manual,  or  Dr.  Arthur  Newsholmes's  on  the 
same  subject  for  an  English  point  of  view,  and 
determine  the  best  way  to  light,  ventilate,  deco- 
rate and  equip  a  school-room;  secure  sanitary 
and  sufficient  lavatories  and  drainage;  provide 
adequate  bath  facilities;  and  decide  where  and 
how  to  locate  the  play-ground.  This  book  on  the 
contrary  is  designed  more  to  call  attention  to  the 
various  needs  of  the  junior  school,  than  to  attack 
in  detail  the  broad  question  of  school  hygiene  for 
instance,  so  admirably  discussed  by  far  better 
authorities.  Beyond  this  there  are  many  more 
conditions  requiring  thought  in  the  planning  and 
operation  of  a  new  country  boarding-school, 
upon  which  additional  bibliographies  might  be 
offered.  The  culinary  department  might  prove 
the  discussion  of  no  small  thesis.  The  chapel 
question;  the  comfortable  living-room  for  the 


LOCATION  AND  EQUIPMENT  146 

boys  together  with  the  halls  and  dining-room- 
all  appropriately  decorated  and  adequately  fur- 
nished;  particulars  of  construction  and  equip- 
ment, present  no  end  of  side-issues,  equally  im- 
portant. Still,  exhaustive  research  in  these 
directions  might  prove  more  of  a  nuisance  and  a 
confusion  than  a  benefit,  and  common-sense,  the 
judicious  use  of  funds,  and  past  experience,  are 
factors  of  far  greater  value. 

Discussion,  chiefly  in  England,  has  been 
directed  very  energetically  to  matter  of  dor- 
mitory arrangements.  Some  schoolmen  hold  to 
the  open  dormitory  idea,  some  to  the  cubicle 
(that  is,  the  alcove  dormitory),  and  some  to  the 
separate  room  scheme,  the  rooms  being  occupied 
by  one  or  more  boys.  The  first  plan — the  open 
dormitory — has  the  objection  of  institutionalism 
and  the  advantage  of  publicity.  The  third  plan 
— the  separate  room  scheme,  is  unsatisfactory 
because  of  the  difficulty  of  supervision.  It  is 
hard  to  tell  whether  a  boy  prone  to  wrong  habits 
and  perverse  conduct,  would  drag  a  good  room- 
mate down  to  his  level.  It  is  certain  that  he 
would  influence  one  indifferently  good.  It  is  a 
question  and  a  risk  whether  the  decent  fellow 
could  pull  the  offender  up.  Character  is  not  as 
strong  is  pre-adolescent  years  as  later,  and  it  is 
hardly  fair  to  put  obstacles  in  its  path,  especially 


146    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

as  these  obstacles  are  most  insidious  and  difficult 
to  combat  because  of  a  boy's  normal  curiousity 
and  possible  secretiveness.  The  cubicle  then — 
or  the  alcove  dormitory  plan — seems  to  solve 
the  problem,  for  while  it  affords  the  boy  such 
privacy  as  he  needs,  at  the  same  time  it  allows 
a  ready  surveillance  by  the  master  in  a  way 
less  objectionable  than  the  opening  of  closed 
doors — an  act  which  may  be  suggestive  to  the 
master  and  boy  alike,  of  wrong-doing — and  is 
certainly  offensive  to  a  sound-minded  man.  Then 
too,  the  comaraderie  of  the  alcove-dormitory  is 
excellent,  and  the  common,  open  life  of  the  group 
is  in  itself  the  strongest  influence  against  wrong- 
doing. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  connote  the  fact  that 
the  dormitories  should  never  be  used  during  the 
day,  even  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  for  meals 
if  this  could  be  arranged  elsewhere.  Among  the 
few  school  rules,  there  should  be  one  affording 
the  sanctity  of  the  cubicle.  It  is  with  no  non- 
sensically prudish  notion  that  this  is  demanded, 
but  simply  because  it  is  the  boy's  right  to  have 
a  place  he  may  call  his  own,  where  he  may  keep 
his  own  "things"  inviolate,  and  where  he  may 
retire  in  times  of  stress.  This  regulation  should 
increase  self-respect  if  anything,  and  work  for 
order  and  regularity.  Although  the  boys  should 


LOCATION  AND  EQUIPMENT  147 

be  required  to  keep  their  clothes-locker  in  order, 
their  bureaus  neat,  and  their  chairs  unlitereded 
— except  at  night — it  will  hardly  be  the  policy 
of  the  school,  unless  it  is  a  school  of  small  charges 
where  it  is  distinctly  understood  that  the  boys 
are  to  share  domestic  duties,  to  require  bed- 
making,  sweeping,  and  the  like.  Those  occupa- 
tions are  very  well  practiced  in  camp  and  mili- 
tary school,  but  here  they  are  better  left  to  the 
care  of  servants.  This  suggests  a  comment  about 
the  house-mother,  who  may,  or  may  not,  be  house- 
keeper as  well.  It  is  she  who  must  have  the 
general  supervision  of  domestic  affairs  and  give 
her  personal  attention  to  the  care  and  comfort 
of  the  boys.  In  the  matter  of  selection,  she  is  of 
no  less  importance  than  the  masters,  and  she 
should  be  very  much  the  type  of  woman  sug- 
gested by  the  quotation  from  Dr.  Henderson  on 
page  130. 

The  outside  equipment  of  the  school  comes  in 
for  its  share  of  thought  as  well.  There  should 
be  a  garden  where  the  boy  may  make  practical 
experiments  in  fruit,  flower  and  vegetable  rais- 
ing; the  farm  which  he  may  learn  to  cultivate 
in  order  to  properly  superintend  his  own  estate 
in  the  future ;  the  woods  and  fields  to  roam ;  and 
a  lake  or  river— Nature's  swimming-pool  in  the 
warm  wtather.  If  fond  of  animals  he  should 


148    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

have  the  opportunity  for  some  participative  in- 
terest in  the  care  of  the  horses,  the  cows,  and  the 
chickens.  If  mechanically  inclined,  there  should 
also  be  chances  for  an  outlet  of  energy  and  ser- 
vice in  that  direction.  Then  there  are  artificial 
recreation  grounds  to  be  provided:  the  ball- 
fields,  the  tennis-courts,  the  golf-links,  the 
cricket-creases,  and  the  like.  And  how  unfor- 
tunate it  is  that  that  delightful,  gentleman's 
sport — cricket — finds  such  little  support  in 
America  when  we  have  been  willing  to  import 
golf  and  tennis  from  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
yet  ignore  a  game  of  greater  skill  and  pleasure 
than  our  decidedly  rowdyish  base-ball,  or  very 
rough  foot-ball. 

The  whole  temper  of  the  school's  location  and 
equipment,  must  sum  up  in  the  word  "homi- 
ness."  There  is  no  other  environment  for  the 
young  boy  that  will  prove  successful,  if  he  is 
expected  to  maintain  his  individuality,  and  not 
become  a  mere  automaton.  He  needs  surround- 
ings that  are  simple  and  yet  superior.  His 
vitality  may  prove  overcharged  from  time  to 
time,  and  perhaps  the  furniture  may  suffer;  but 
that  difficulty  may  be  worked  off  with  the  ap- 
proach of  adolescence.  He  should  learn  to  ap- 
preciate good  furnishings  and  good  decorations. 
Trash  should  not  be  placed  in  his  way  to  en- 


LOCATION  AND  EQUIPMENT  14* 

courage  careless  treatment.  A  school  that  adopt* 
a  policy  of  allowing  distructiveness  on  the  basis 
that  the  boy  may  thus  discharge  his  animal 
spirits,  and  punishes  the  deed  by  charging  the 
demolition  on  the  bill,  is  the  factor  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  boor,  not  of  a  gentleman;  and  even 
boys,  with  all  the  good  times  and  "rough-house" 
they  are  privileged  to  have,  need  not  relapse 
while  enjoying  those  conditions,  into  a  state  of 
barbaric  ciudeness  indoors. 


XI 
THE  ECONOMICS  OP  THE  SCHOOL 

THE  cost  of  administration  and  main- 
tenance for  a  public  institution  may  be 
easily  determined  from  annual  reports, 
and  compared  with  other  reports.  In 
this  way  the  cost  of  operation  is  definitely  known, 
and  a  basis  for  economy  established.  The  private 
school  however  has  no  occasion  for  giving  away 
its  financial  affairs.  Indeed,  if  one  school  has 
found  a  particularly  advantageous  method  of 
administration,  it  will  see  to  it  that  no  rival 
learns  its  secret  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  in 
deep  waters  in  respect  to  money  matters,  it  will 
surely  make  every  possible  effort  to  keep  the 
situation  quiet.  It  is  useless  to  look  to  the 
figures  of  the  public  school  for  any  basis  of  cal- 
culation. Even  the  salaries  there  are  vastly 
different,  as  no  "home1'  is  included.  Outside 
of  their  board  and  lodging,  the  under-masters  in 
a  junior  school  will  command  from  $800  up  a 
year.  These  are  very  low  salaries  to  figure  on, 
and  good  men  should  not  be  sacrificed  to  a 
few  hundred  dollars.  A  school  for  thirty  boys 
160 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  THE  SCHOOL        151 

would  require  three  masters  besides  the  head. 
The  other  salaried  person,  providing  the  head- 
master does  some  of  his  own  "office  work,"  is 
the  house-mother,  or  house-keeper.  One  of  the 
undermasters  could  very  likely  fill  the  office  of 
secretary. 

The  location  of  the  school  in  respect  to  its 
proximity  to  the  city  governs  rental  and  food 
cost  to  a  great  degree ;  hence  the  nearer  the  city, 
the  higher  the  charges  of  the  school  must  be. 
During  the  early  years  of  its  existence,  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  school  would  be  filled  to  its 
capacity — thirty  boys,  and  if  it  is  certain  it  will 
not,  a  smaller  teaching  staff  may  be  engaged; 
the  table  expense  will  be  somewhat,  but  not  pro- 
portionately reduced;  and  there  may  be  some 
saving  in  labor,  fuel,  lights,  laundry,  etc.  The 
main  fixed  charges  are  almost  the  same  however 
for  twenty  as  for  thirty  pupils. 

Were  the  plant  put  in  operation  at  an  expense 
of  $40,000,  let  us  say,  the  capital  invested  should 
be  expected  to  net  5%.  That  would  mean  the 
same  thing  as  an  annual  rental  of  $2,000,  so  in 
the  suggested  schedule  of  expense  on  page  155, 
it  is  really  immaterial  whether  the  investment  is 
a  private  one,  or  incorporated. 

There  is  only  one  way  of  presenting  a  conser- 
vative prospectus;  that  is,  by  maximising  the 


162    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

expenses  and  minimising  the  receipts.  Even 
with  a  most  careful  effort  made  in  this  direction, 
the  value  of  the  schedule  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact 
that  it  may  stimulate  criticism  or  awaken  some 
school  to  the  realisation  of  a  point  where  expen- 
ditures may  be  reduced,  or  its  income  increased. 

The  steward  of  a  widely  patronised  summer 
hotel,  and  formerly  maitre  d 'hotel  in  one  of  the 
large  Boston  hostelries,  is  authority  for  the 
statement,  that,  generally  speaking,  it  should  be 
possible  to  feed  a  household  very  well,  at  the 
present  high  prices  of  provisions,  of  forty  people 
and  those  sitting  at  the  servants'  table  as  well, 
at  an  average  of  $40  per  day  for  the  whole. 

As  to  advertising,  scarcely  too  liberal  an  ap- 
propriation can  be  made  in  that  direction  during 
the  first  few  years  of  the  school,  until  its  * '  loving 
friends"  are  numerous  and  strong.  When  the 
capacity  of  the  school  has  been  reached,  and  the 
clientele  assured,  it  is  still  necessary  for  the 
school  to  keep  itself  before  the  public,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  share  of  business  to  which  it  is 
entitled. 

There  is  no  reason  why  a  high-grade  school  of 
this  type  should  not  charge  $800  per  year.  Some 
junior  boarding  schools  ask  $1,000  and  get  it 
too.  Others,  more  remotely  situated  charge  but 
$500  or  $600.  In  this  schedule,  $750  is  allowed, 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  THE  SCHOOL        153 

although  really,  for  what  the  school  is  proposing 
to  spend  and  provide,  it  should  ask  more.  It 
can,  with  a  successful  record,  and  a  waiting-list, 
increase  its  charges  from  year  to  year,  but  it 
should  not  make  the  business  error  of  starting 
at  too  high  a  figure. 

There  is  a  small  secondary  source  of  income — 
profit  on  books,  athletic  association  membership 
fees  (over  and  above  the  expense  of  games),  etc., 
etc.,  of  which  no  account  is  taken.  It  is  simply 
the  object  of  these  figures  to  show  as  Mr.  Black 
says :  If  the  popular  breeze  fills  the  sails  of  the 
preparatory  school,  it  may  make  good  weather." 
In  other  words ;  though  the  school  may  prove  no 
El  Dorado,  it  may,  under  careful  financial  man- 
agement, prove  a  moderately  successful  venture 
in  the  terms  of  dollars  and  cents,  as  well  as  in 
respect  to  educational  results. 

If  business  acumen  and  pedagogic  ability  only 
walked  hand  in  hand,  the  wail  of  the  school  pro- 
prietor would  be  less  frequently  heard.  Unfor- 
tunately commercialism  and  this  phase  of  pro- 
fessionalism are  seldom  fellow-travellers.  It 
would  almost  seem  that  some  business  training 
for  the  headmaster  were  as  indispensable  as  the 

1  Special  Reports.  Great  Britain.  Education 
Dept.  Vol.  VI.  P.  417. 


154    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

college  degree,  so  carefully  affixed  to  his  name 
in  the  literature  of  the  school. 

The  school  must  adopt  the  policy  of  keeping 
its  equipment  modern,  and  adding  to  the  same 
each  year,  in  order  that  competitors  may  not 
surpass  it  It  needs  to  adopt  another  policy 
also;  i.  e.,  one  of  setting  a  good  table,  keeping 
the  buildings  adequately  lighted,  sufficiently 
heated,  properly  cleaned,  and  comfortably 
equipped.  That  is  to  say,  anything  indicative 
of  miserliness,  must  find  no  place.  Boys  are  not 
only  keen  critics,  but  their  stories  exaggerate 
outside  the  school  walls;  and  really,  being 
charged  a  first-class  price,  they  are  entitled  to 
first-class  care. 

The  following  prospectus  indicates,  with  a 
capital  of  $40,000  to  invest  in  a  school  establish- 
ment, when  once  the  clientele  could  be  estab- 
lished, that  the  venture  (note  rental  and  sink- 
ing fund  appropriations),  would  pay  5%  or  bet- 
ter net,  in  addition  to  the  salary  allowed  the 
headmaster,  should  he  happen  to  be  the  pro- 
prietor as  well 

ANNUAL  RECEIPTS 

Tuition  and  board,  30  boys  at  $750  each,  $22,500 
Laundry,  mending,  etc.,  30  boys  at 

$50  each,  1,500 

Total,  $24,000 


THE  ECONOMICS  OP  THE  SCHOOL        1*1 

ANNUAL    EXPENDITURES 

Salaries,  $5,100 

Headmaster,  $1,500 

Master,  1,200 

Master,  1,000 

Master,  800 

House-keeper,  600 

Wages,  $2,910 

Cook,  360 

Maid,  240 

3  Maids,  9  months,  540 

Laundress,  9  months,  270 

Assistant,  9  months,  180 

Man,  480 

Assistant,  360 

Linen-room  keeper,  480 

Food  allowance  for  the  year,  9,000 

Kental  (including  taxes),  2,000 
Sinking-fund   (summer  repairs,  new 

equipment,   etc.),  2,000 

Advertising,  1,500 

Fuel,  lighting,  up-keep,  etc.,  1,490 


Total,  $24,000 

Should  a  school  of  this  type  be  started  on 
rented  premises,  a  capital  of  $40,000  would 
more  than  see  it  through  its  alterations  and 


116    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

assure  it  a  backing  for  several  years.  If  it  were 
purchasing  land  and  building,  the  funds  for 
such  a  purpose  would  have  to  be  raised  through 
a  mortgage  or  bond  issue,  if  unprovided  for  in 
any  other  way — say  through  endowment,  which 
is  improbable  for  a  school  of  this  class  in 
America.  The  sinking  fund  allows  a  bond  issue 
of  $40,000  on  a  5%  basis,  and  certainly  this,  with 
$40,000  stock,  should  put  the  school  well  in  funds 
towards  the  erection  and  equipment  of  a  plant. 
There  is  always  more  or  less  philanthropy  at- 
tached to  starting  any  school  and  yet,  if  the 
promoters  will  count  returns  in  results  with  the 
boys  as  well  as  in  money,  the  undertaking  offers 
no  end  of  satisfaction. 

The  matter  of  advertising  is  a  branch  of  the 
business  end  of  the  school  that  the  average  head- 
master has  not  the  power  to  cope  with  to  best 
advantage,  owing,  again,  to  lack  of  business  ex- 
perience. The  judicious  following-up  of  en- 
quiries is  unquestionably  of  vital  importance. 
The  recommendation  of  the  school  by  friends  it 
the  best  sort  of  publicity,  and  a  social  represen- 
tative in  various  districts  to  co-operate  with 
moderate  public  advertising,  is  of  far  greater 
value  than  "  display  "  in  the  periodicals.  Splurge 
in  advertising  is  to  be  avoided  as  a  deadly  sin, 
if  the  school  is  to  maintain  a  first-class  rank. 
However  home-like  the  school  may  be,  however 


THE  ECONOMICS  OF  THE  SCHOOL        167 

strong  in  its  influence  for  good,  it  could  make  no 
greater  error  than  to  indulge  in  such  expressions 
as  " strong  moral  influence,"  " cultured  Chris- 
tian home  surroundings,"  etc.,  etc.,  in  its  ad- 
vertisements. Unless  very  well-known,  the  name 
of  the  headmaster  probably  contributes  little 
towards  the  value  of  the  advertisement;  but  if 
prominent  men  are  identified  in  any  way  with 
the  school,  perhaps  their  names  might  be  dis- 
creetly displayed.  The  school  catalogue  must 
conform  in  dignity  with  the  tone  of  its  other 
advertising,  and  bear  no  ear-marks  of  the 
' 'quack."  Supplementary  advertisement  in  the 
matter  of  entertaining  prospective  patrons,  is 
important  too,  as  in  such  a  case,  their  opinion  of 
the  school  through  personal  touch,  is  in  the 
making. 

To  sum  up  the  prospects  of  economic  success, 
we  have  first  to  say  that  it  depends  upon  the 
health  and  personality  of  the  headmaster, 
secondly,  upon  the  personnel  of  his  assistants, 
and  thirdly  upon  the  location  and  equipment  of 
the  school.  When  the  time  arrives  in  which 
public-spirited  men  of  wealth  appreciate  the 
full  value  of  the  junior  boarding-schools,  and 
will  not  only  send  their  sons  to  them  more 
generally,  but  will  endow  them  as  well,  then  this 
type  of  institution  will  come  into  its  full  power 
of  maturity  in  America.  The  headmaster  will 


158    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

be  relieved  of  the  constant  financial  anxiety  that 
impends,  and  his  efforts  will  be  more  freely  and 
unbrokenly  directed  towards  the  welfare  of  his 
pupils.  The  man  who  realises  that  the  sub- 
preparatory  boarding-school  has  a  future  before 
it  in  this  country,  is  the  man  who  will  start  in 
the  work  now  to  be  assured  of  a  position  on  the 
"ground  floor,"  and  if  he  handles  developments 
with  care,  there  is  no  reason  why  he  himself 
should  not  enjoy  success,  rather  than  merely 
leaving  his  experiences  on  the  educational  path- 
way, to  prove  guide-posts  to  those  who  follow 
after.  "But/1  as  Mr.  Black  says,  "with  the 
preparatory  school  headmaster  the  question  of 
finance  is  ever  present,  and  he  ought  to  realise 
from  the  first  that  he  must  give  it  as  much  con- 
sideration as  it  receives  from  the  successful  man 
of  business,  though  he  must  not  expect  the  same 
gilded  results.  In  the  preparatory  school  which 
is  to  command  success  in  the  present  era  of  fierce 
competition  the  Head  must  be  not  only  Teacher 
in  school  and  Housemaster  at  other  hours,  but 
also  an  able  Cashier,  who  can  handle,  distribute 
and  appraise  at  their  true  value,  the  funds  that 
are  necessary  to  make  his  school  as  attractive 
and  efficient  as  possible."1 

1  Special  Reports ;   Great  Britain.    Education 
Dept    VoLVI.    P.  413. 


XII 
SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL 

IT  is  impossible  to  forecast  with  any  degree 
of  accuracy  the  multiplicity  of  minor  de- 
tails that  will  confront  the  headmaster  of 
a    junior    boarding-school.     Beyond     the 
broader    problems    already    discussed,    a    few 
specific  conditions  are  certainly  worthy  of  our 
thought,  each  one  of  which  however  might  be 
the  subject  of  a  book  in  itself. 

EXAMINATIONS 

There  has  been  much  discussion  of  late  yean 
about  the  respective  merits  and  demerits  of  the 
"formal  examination."  It  is  now  somewhat 
under  the  ban  of  the  reformer,  and  yet  it  is 
an  indispensable  agent  of  education.  Bagley  says 
that  "the  very  essence  of  an  examination  is  it* 
formal  character.  So-called  informal  examina- 
tions or  tests  may  be  valuable  for  certain  pur- 
poses, but  they  entirely  miss  the  virile  virtue 
that  the  examination,  in  the  strenuous  sense  of 
the  term,  possesses.  The  function  of  the  exam- 
ination as  a  test  of  the  pupil's  knowlege  is  not 

159 


160    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

of  paramount  importance,  but  its  function  as  an 
organising  agency  of  knowledge  is  supreme.  The 
period  of  intense  application  preceding  the  exam- 
ination represents  the  burning-point  of  atten- 
tion. It  is  a  strain  to  be  sure,  but  a  strain  that 
pays.  The  Little  children  and  the  weaklings  may 
wisely  be  exempted  from  its  operation;  but  for 
the  great  majority  of  pupils  .  .  .  above  the 
age  of  eight,  the  examination  is  the  agency  of 
formal  education  'par  excellence.'  "' 

On  page  60  there  is  an  acknowledgement  of  the 
value  of  informal  education.  It  is  not  proposed 
to  recant  on  this  position,  for  examinations  can 
be  introduced  at  term-ends  without  teaching 
every  lesson  in  a  formal,  conventional  way. 
Such  tests  as  these  certainly  do  tend  towards 
standardising  work,  and  there  is  no  reason  for 
making  them  out  to  be  the  perfect  bugbears  that 
they  seem  to  be  to  some  pupils,  if  the  work  has 
been  thoroughly  covered  and  really  learned,  by 
one  method  or  another,  as  the  various  courses 
have  proceeded.  In  fact,  boys  might  just  as  well 
anticipate  examinations  as  mental  competitions, 
and  prepare  for  them  somewhat  in  the  same 
spirit  as  class  athletics  are  gotten  ready  for. 
They  should  present  no  element  of  fear,  and 

Educative  Process;    Bagley.     P.  333. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      161 

such  mental  suggestion  on  the  master's  part 
should  never  be  tolerated  by  the  headmaster. 
Who  knows  but  that  the  instructor  has  used  the 
examination  as  the  "big  stick/'  until  the  pupila 
have  come  to  dread  what  naturally  should  prove 
an  interesting  contest?  It  should  be,  con- 
tinues  Bagley,  "from  the  pupil's  standpoint  an 
important  test  of  successful  work.  If  a  boy 
realises  that  success  or  failure  depends  upon 
'passing  his  finals'  he  has  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful motives — the  motive  of  pride — for  success- 
ful effort.  In  this  sense  it  is  true  that  the  ex- 
amination is  a  device;  for  the  end  of  knowledge 
is  application,  not  organisation.  But  if  our  main 
contention  is  valid,  if  organisation  is  the  most  im- 
portant factor  in  promoting  efficient  recall, — 
then  the  examination  is  a  legitimate  means  to  a 
final  end,  and  probably  the  most  effective  instru- 
ment that  is  at  the  command  of  the  school  for 
the  purpose."1 

It  is  not  difficult  to  gauge  the  capacity  of  the 
pupils  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  energy  they 
command  for  examinations.  One  general  rule 
for  young  boys  should  be  that  the  examination 
have  a  two-hour  limit,  or  better,  an  hour  and  a 
half.  In  hot  weather  certain  concessions  might 

1  Educative  Process;   Bagley.    P.  334. 


162     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

be  made.  Dr.  Newsholme  states  that  "the  oc- 
currence of  headaches,  restlessness,  irritability 
and  inability  to  fix  the  attention,  are  finger-posts 
showing  over-work  in  preparation  for  examina- 
tions, and  should  receive  early  attention. " l  Is 
it  not  possible  that  the  same  conditions  should  be 
expressed  through  fear  on  the  part  of  some  boy 
who  has  wilfully  shirked  his  daily  preparations  f 
In  such  a  case  there  is  a  decidedly  psycho- 
physiological  interpretation  of  those  symptoms 
to  be  made.  Dr.  Moll  suggests  that  the  strain 
of  examinations  frequently  has  a  prejudicial 
sexual  influence  upon  boys  in  early  adolescence. 
But  the  chance  for  such  a  malinfluence  occurs  so 
seldom  in  this  way,  and  so  frequently  in  other 
ways,  that  the  examination  can  hardly  be  ruled 
out  on  that  basis. 

Monthly  tests,  of  shorter  duration — perhaps 
only  the  length  of  a  school  hour — are  of  great 
advantage.  They  pave  the  way  informally  for 
the  term  examination.  Were  they  more  formal, 
a  certain  monthly  grade  might  excuse  the  pupil 
from  the  term  examination,  but  this  plan  is  bet- 
ter advised  in  the  secondary  than  in  the  element- 
ary school  The  final  examination  for  the  year 
should  not,  however,  be  the  only  factor  in  deter- 

1  School  Hygiene ;  Newsholme.    P.  68. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      161 

mining  promotion;  and  in  the  case  of  monthly 
tests,  their  results  may  be  very  fairly  averaged 
with  the  class  mark  to  secure  a  record  of  the 
work  for  the  monthly  report  to  parents. 

MARKS    AND    REPORTS 

Every  school  faces  the  situation  of  having  to 
send  periodic  reports  to  parents  concerning  the 
boy's  progress.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  indicate 
a  boy's  advancement  and  relation  to  the  school 
in  terms  of  percentages  or  letter-grades;  but  it 
is  a  good  thing  for  the  parents  to  be  kept  in  touch 
with  the  school,  and  conversely,  the  school  to  be 
kept  in  touch  with  the  parents.  How  much  the 
boy  benefits  from  too  close  a  criticism  of  his 
standing,  is  a  question.  If  his  school  work  and 
spirit  are  satisfactory,  a  proportionate  record 
will  no  doubt  prove  a  continued  stimulus  of 
constant,  conscious  efforts  towards  still  higher 
achievements.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  a  poor 
student,  his  marks  when  compared  with  those 
of  other  boys,  might  prove  discouraging.  The 
mental  capacities  and  motives  of  individuals  are 
so  different  and  variable,  that  it  is  hardly  square 
to  judge  the  less-talented  boy  who  makes  an 
earnest  effort  and  falls  short  of  the  goal,  on  the 
same  basis  with  the  boy  who  is  naturally  more 
gifted  and  learns  his  lessons  with  apparent  ease. 


1«4    YOUNG  BOTS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

This  same  observation  extends  in  general  to  the 
marking  of  examination  papers.  If  the  school 
can  lead  the  boy  to  establish  his  own  ideal  stan- 
dard, then  he  may  be  graded  in  the  light  of  the 
same.  If  this  marking  is  done  by  a  careful  and 
conscientious  teacher,  the  outcome  should  be 
thoroughly  satisfactory.  It  would  show  whether 
the  lad  had  done  his  best,  not  whether  he  had 
done  more  or  less,  or  better  or  worse,  than  his 
fellow-students.  This  is  a  rather  idealistic  task 
to  set  the  school,  yet  here,  as  in  other  instances, 
the  institution  should  respond  to  the  demands 
upon  it  that  are  consonant  with  the  welfare  of 
the  pupil 

If  the  motive  for  work  in  a  school  is  simply 
the  glory  of  marks,  it  would  not  be  surprising  to 
see  a  boy  produced  who,  in  the  years  to  come, 
would  find  his  only  satisfaction  in  the  lust  for 
gain.  The  school  should  see  that  the  element  of 
social  service  enters  into  the  lad's  make-up,  and 
it  should  not  thwart  its  own  object,  by  yielding 
too  strongly  to  the  conventional  "report," 
simply  because  it  is  the  readiest  way  out  of  the 
difficulty.  The  elementary  school  might  con- 
sistently render  a  monthly  account  of  the  boy's 
work  graded  somewhat  as  follows: 

"A"    Excellent  work,  100—90$ 

"B"    Satisfactory  work,         90— SQ% 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      161 

*C"    Fair  work,  80 — 70^ 

'D"    Poor  work, 


E"    Unsatisfactory  work,     60—50^ 


It  would  be  unnecessary  to  make  any  finer 
differences,  except  when  absolutely  perfect  work 
was  produced ;  in  which  case,  a  special  note  could 
be  made.  An  average  of  "A"  and  "B"  work 
and  conduct  should  entitle  the  pupil  to  a  credit 
holiday.  The  standard  for  the  individual  might 
be  rather  rigidly  drawn,  so  that  the  two  higher 
ranks  will  be  really  significant  of  honor  stand- 
ing. In  determining  a  general  average,  other 
matters  besides  mere  lessons  should  have  their 
gradings;  Conduct  with  a  value  of  two  points 
for  instance,  Attendance  one  point,  Neatness  and 
Carriage,  one  point,  etc.,  etc.  The  point  value 
of  the  lesson-subjects  has  had  its  discussion  in 
the  chapter  on  the  Curriculum. 

The  position  taken  by  the  Interlaken  School 
near  LaPorte,  Indiana — the  American  type  of 
Dr.  Reddie's  ' '  Abbotsholme ' '  in  England — is  in- 
teresting to  note  as  indicative  of  a  modern  trend 
in  educational  administration.  In  its  catalogue, 
under  the  caption,  ''Reports  to  Parents/'  it  says; 
"The  school  is  an  enlarged  family  and  takes  up 
the  training  of  the  child  in  co-operation  with  the 
parent.  The  active  interest  of  the  parents  in  the 


166    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

progress  of  the  boy,  information  regarding  his 
disposition  and  suggestions  concerning  the 
studies,  will  aid  in  making  our  work  fruitful 
Parents  will  be  kept  in  close  touch  with  the 
school  A  full  report  in  the  form  of  a  personal 
letter  from  the  Directors  will  be  made  from  time 
to  time.  The  boys  will  be  required  to  write  home 
regularly"1 

This  is  an  admirable  plan,  and  is  worthy  of 
general  consideration  and  introduction.  The  boy 
is  encouraged  to  do  his  best  so  that  his  own 
report  each  week  to  his  father  or  mother  may  be 
good.  And  the  school  sends  its  official  notices 
when  occasions  arise. 

REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  school  to  bring  clearly 
before  the  boy's  mind,  the  Law  of  Causal  Rela- 
tions. If  delinquencies  of  conduct  and  in  work 
should  be  punished — and  there  is  no  question  but 
that  they  should  be,  and  in  the  most  effectual 
manner  at  that — improvement  and  excellence, 
on  the  contrary,  should  be  rewarded.  And  fur- 
ther, the  reward  must  not  simply  be  for  the  one 
who  may  stand  ahead  of  all  others,  but  for  every 
one  who  has  earned  it,  and  besides  this,  the 

1  Interlaken  School;  1908—1909  Catalogue. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      167 

reward  must  be  a  positive  asset.  The  boy  if 
often  told  that  goodness  will  bring  its  own 
reward;  but  like  everything  else,  if  that  reward 
is  not  tangible,  he  will  be  very  sure  to  change  the 
time-honored  aphorism  into  "Be  good  and  you'll 
be  miserable. " 

Rewards  resolve  into  two  classes;  (1)  the 
cumulative  that  take  the  form  of  honors  and 
prizes  at  the  end  of  a  school  term  or  year,  (2) 
and  periodic — those  coming  from  time  to  time 
during  the  school  year.  Instances  of  the  first 
class  find  expression  for  example  in  the  "star 
system,"  and  of  the  second  class,  in  the  "credit- 
holiday  system,'*  both  in  successful  operation  at 
the  Morristown  School.  The  two  systems  are 
non-competitive,  and  have  been  tried  out  with 
considerable  satisfaction. 

The  "star  system"  was  introduced  from  a 
similar  plan  in  vogue  at  the  Mostyn  House 
School,  near  Chester,  England,  but  it  abandoned 
the  "bar"  included  in  the  English  system  which 
counted  a  double-unit  off  the  "stars,"  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  a  mistake  to  make  a  lad's 
short-comings  too  conspicuous  of  record — better 
to  remember  such  good  things  as  are  possible 
from  a  boy's  experience,  and  let  the  evil  things, 
after  their  atonement,  remain  a  sub-conscious 
background  to  his  thought.  The  "stars"  accord- 


168     TOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

ing  to  the  words  of  the  prospectus  of  Mostyn 
House  School,  are  given  "for  any  piece  of  work 
of  unusual  merit,  considering  the  particular 
boy's  ability — e.  g.,  a  faultless  exercise,  a  good 
piece  of  translation,  a  first-rate  drawing  copy,  a 
piece  of  music  well-learned  and  played,  or  even 
for  consistent  effort  to  become  smart  at  drill  . 
.  .  Thus  prizes  are  given  for  real  earnestness, 
for  doing  one's  duty  and  a  little  more.  'Stars' 
are  not  easy  to  get,  and  are  not  given  to  boys  for 
being  'top  of  their  class';  they  are  not  for 
cleverness,  but  for  real  earnestness. ' '  *  The  star 
plan  itself  has  a  still  wider  range  at  the  Morris- 
town  School.  There,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
academic  year,  the  Lower  School  list  is  publicly 
posted,  with  sufficient  space  after  each  boy's 
name  to  provide  for  the  pasting  up  of  paper 
stars  at  mid-terms  and  term-ends.  Gold  stars  are 
used  to  indicate  earnestness  in  scholarship,  red 
stars  to  show  regularity  and  good  spirit  in  out- 
of-door  activities,  green  stars  to  express  excep- 
tionally good  conduct  (and  attendance)  and  the 
right  school  attitude,  and  blue  stars  for  con- 
scientious efforts  towards  personal  neatness,  good 
form,  and  manners.  Each  star  is  a  unit  of  equal 
value.  The  maximum  obtainable  in  a  year  may 

1  Mostyn  House  School  Prospectus,  1910.    Pp. 
22,  23. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      169 

be  fixed  at  any  number,  depending  upon  the 
frequency  with  which  they  are  awarded,  but 
usually  fifty,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  school 
year,  boys  having  received  over  thirty,  over 
twenty,  and  over  fifteen  are  presented  with 
prizes,  usually  in  the  form  of  gold,  silver,  or 
bronze  stars,  bearing  the  school  monogram  in 
colors,  and  suitable  for  use  as  a  clasp  or  stick- 
pin. 

The  credit-holidays  however,  depend  on  the 
monthly  record,  and  entitle  the  winner  to  twenty- 
four  hours  leave  of  absence  from  the  school, 
preferably  from  a  Saturday  to  a  Sunday  after- 
noon. The  granting  of  these  depends  not  only 
upon  a  certain  standing  in  scholarship,  but  upon 
good  spirit  and  conduct  as  well,  so  that  the  fair 
scholar  who  has  achieved  a  good  record  has  even 
a  better  chance  of  the  much-coveted  "credit" 
than  the  cleverer  student  who  does  not  live  up  to 
the  requirements  of  the  school  in  other  directions. 

In  determining  the  conditions  affecting  the 
privilege  of  an  irregular  exeat,  the  headmaster 
has  to  be  the  judge  and  no  suggestions  may  be 
made  except  that,  in  every  boarding-school,  the 
fewer  the  irregularities,  the  simpler  the  admin- 
istration. Day-boys,  in  this  respect  are  apt  to 
be  a  disturbing  element,  and  if  the  school  can 
prosper  without  them,  so  much  the  better. 


170     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

In  the  same  school  that  the  ' '  star  system ' '  and 
the  "credit  holiday"  are  being  used  to  ad- 
vantage, there  is  an  ingenious  plan  of  punish- 
ment for  minor  and  major  offences.  While  it  is 
true  that  punishment  "in  kind"  is  logical,  it  is 
not  always  practicable  with  the  small  boy,  and 
might  even  prove  more  of  an  amusement  than  a 
discipline.  Some  boys,  even  at  an  early  age,  will 
appreciate  the  fact  that  the  real  punishment  for 
their  short-comings  lies,  not  in  the  disciplinary 
measures  that  may  directly  be  meted  out  to  them, 
but  in  their  failure  to  obtain  the  rewards  that  go 
to  others  who  are  steadier  in  behavior.  But  this 
is  an  exceptionally  far-sighted  view  to  expect  of 
a  pre-adolescent,  and  as  it  is  one  of  the  duties  of 
the  school  to  teach  the  boy  self-control  through 
obedience,  it  is  obvious  that  cause  and  effect 
should  have  a  prompt  and  vigorous  expression. 
For  major  offences  the  Morristown  School  allows 
three  public  "censures"  before  a  boy  is  dis- 
missed, for  minor  offences  in  the  Lower  School 
there  is  "the  track."  Delinquencies  are  punish- 
able by  marks  in  units  of  three,  five,  ten,  fifteen, 
etc.,  and  each  mark  needs  to  be  served  off  by 
walking  one  lap  alone  around  the  quarter-mile 
athletic  track,  under  supervision  of  the  master  in 
charge  for  the  day,  during  free  time — time  in 
which  schoolmates  without  penalties  are  at  their 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      in 

afternoon  sports.  The  advantages  of  this  system 
are  obvious;  it  allows  the  boy  to  "work  off  his 
steam"  in  the  open  air,  it  makes  him  realise  that 
he  can  not  play  and  serve  off  marks  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  an  individual  matter,  and  it  imposes 
no  penalty  that  would  tend  to  make  school-work 
irksome,  such  as  the  requirement  of  "lines.11  It 
has  been  found  by  experience  to  satisfy  prac- 
tically all  the  disciplinary  exigencies.  It  is 
hardly  fair  to  spoil  a  small  boy's  school  record 
by  censuring  him.  His  mistakes  seldom  really 
belong  to  the  major  class.  It  would  be  better  to 
spank  him,  if  there  were  not  such  a  maudlin 
sentiment  against  corporal  punishment  on  the 
part  of  American  parents.  A  spanking  is  a  won- 
der-worker in  some  instances,  and  the  testimony 
of  many  uncontrolled  young  men  in  college  to- 
day, is  to  the  effect  that  they  would  have  been 
better  off  had  they  been  more  strenuously 
punished  in  childhood.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to 
leave  the  chastisements,  if  they  are  to  be  admin- 
istered, to  the  hands  of  boy-praef  ects,  who  seldom 
know  when  to  stop.  It  is  a  punishment  useful 
only  if  immediately  administered,  and  done  at 
that  by  one  having  the  proper  authority. 

Dr.  Albert  Moll  thinks  that  there  is  some  dan- 
ger of  boys  experiencing  sexual  stimulation  as 
the  result  of  corporal  punishment  "But,"  he 


171    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

adds,  "although  in  this  matter  I  find  myself 
in  opposition  to  a  great  many  physicians  and 
to  not  a  few  educationalists,  I  remain  of  the 
opinion  that  we  can  not  propose  to  do  away  alto- 
gether with  corporal  punishment  in  our  schools 
(Germany)  ...  so  long  as  certain  other  re- 
forms are  still  wanting.  Among  the  reforms 
which  are  indispensable  preliminaries  to  the  com- 
plete abolition  of  corporal  punishment,  is  one 
giving  a  greater  power  to  expel  insolent  and  un- 
disciplined boys  .  .  .  The  danger  of  an  ex- 
cessive use  of  powers  of  administering  corporal 
punishment,  and  more  especially  the  danger  of 
awakening  the  sexuality  of  children  prematurely 
and  with  perverse  associations,  may  be  minimised 
by  the  proper  treatment  of  schoolmasters.  We 
must  not  treat  our  schoolmasters  in  such  a  way 
that  behind  them  they  always  feel  the  presence 
of  the  inspector,  compelling  them  to  force  the 
pupils  through  the  prescribed  but  excessive  tasks. 
Nor  must  the  schoolmaster's  own  work  be  exces- 
sive, for  nervous  overstrain  will  very  readily  lead 
to  outbursts  of  violence.  It  seems  also  desirable 
that  the  right  of  administering  corporal  punish- 
ment should  not  be  entrusted  to  masters  who  are 
still  quite  young,  for  a  certain  experience  is 
needed  to  guide  them  to  a  reasonable  moderation. 
.  .  .  I  have  expressed  the  opinion  that  as  far 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      ITS 

as  the  possible  effects  on  health  are  concerned, 
and  especially  from  the  point  of  view  of  sexual 
hygiene,  blows  upon  the  palm  of  the  hand  per- 
haps constitute  the  least  dangerous  form  of  cor- 
poral punishment. ' ' l 

FAULTS. 

A  psychological  and  critical  study  of  the  faults 
prevalent  among  boys  is  impossible  within  the 
limits  of  these  pages.  It  is  not,  in  fact,  the  pur- 
pose of  this  book  to  give  an  analysis  of  budding 
criminality.  But  there  are  a  few  delinquencies 
common  to  immature  boys  which  are  worthy  of 
brief  comment  from  the  school's  point  of  view. 
Theft  in  a  small  degree  and  lying  to  a  great 
degree  are  reasonably  at  the  head  of  the  list. 
Within  the  writer's  experience  with  young  boys, 
he  has  known  of  but  few  cases  of  minor  purloin- 
ing, and  these  were  not  attributable  to  klep- 
tomania, but  merely  sporadic  cases  with  the  boys 
in  question,  revenge  being  the  prevailing  cause. 
The  same  boys,  and  others,  who  would  not  steal, 
were  very  commonly  found  to  be  untruthful 
Lies  are  really  natural  with  the  pre-adoleseent, 
and  boys  are  quite  likely,  under  good  moral  guid- 

1  Sexual  Life  of  the  Child;  MolL  Pp.  318, 
319,  320. 


174    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

ance,  to  outgrow  the  habit,  and  pass  the  danger 
zone.  Truth  with  the  child  says  Hall,  * '  depends 
largely  upon  personal  likes  and  dislikes  .  .  . 
It  is  harder  to  cheat  in  school  with  a  teacher 
who  is  liked  .  .  .  The  worst  lies  perhaps  are 
those  of  selfishness.  They  ease  children  over 
many  hard  places  in  life,  and  are  convenient 
covers  for  weakness  and  vice.  These  lies  are,  on 
the  whole,  .  .  .  most  prevalent.  They  are 
also  most  corrupting,  and  hard  to  correct.  All 
bad  habits  particularly  predispose  to  the  lie  of 
concealment ;  for  those  who  do  wrong  are  almost 
certain  to  have  recourse  to  falsehood."  1 

Here  is  another  "working  hypothesis"  not 
only  by  contrast  for  fixing  the  development  of 
the  truth-telling  habit,  but  for  the  uncovering  of 
such  evils  as  may  exist  in  the  school  ranks.  It  is 
a  disagreeable  task,  this  disclosing  and  correct- 
ing of  wrong-doing,  but  it  is  no  less  obligatory. 
It  takes  patience,  and  tact,  and  love — and  never 
the  rod  for  aught  but  impertinence  and  disobe- 
dience,— and  seldom  then,  unless  "approved" 
— to  break  a  boy  of  an  uncontrolled  imagina- 
tion finding  expression  in  falsehood.  But, if 
delinquencies  are  a  pleasure  to  overcome,  as 
perhaps  they  may  be,  dishonesty  and  lying  are 

1  Youth;  HalL    P.  129. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      176 

more  agreeable  problems  to  solve  than  smoking 
and  self -abuse.  The  last  two  need  no  kid-gloved 
attention  if  the  welfare  of  the  boy  is  at  heart. 
Both  are  apt  to  be  found  in  any  school,  especially 
in  one  where  so  many  boys  are  approaching 
puberty.  But  whatever  fear  parents  may  have 
of  these  evils  flourishing  in  a  school,  do  not  let 
them  be  self-deceived  by  the  idea  that  they  are 
absent  from  the  immediate  circle  of  the  home. 
At  the  school  the  attention  of  the  headmaster  and 
his  assistants  should  be  directed  towards  the 
elimination  of  both,  or  rather  the  prevention — 
for  a  prophylactic  position  is  much  wiser  than  a 
therapeutic.  But  the  task  can  not  be  done  ex- 
cept there  be  the  closest  bond  of  sympathy 
between  one  of  the  masters — preferably  the  dor- 
mitory master — and  the  boy,  else  the  lies  will  be 
told  that  Dr.  Hall  refers  to,  and  little  accom- 
plished in  the  directions  sought. 

In  respect  to  smoking,  it  is  usually  indulged  in 
because  considered  '  *  smart. "  It  is  doubtful  if  a 
young  boy  ever  finds  real  satisfaction  in  smoking 
"on  the  sly."  The  argument  to  defeat  the  prac- 
tice must  rest  wholly  in  the  physiological  reasons 
against  it.  A  partial  explanation  of  its  effects 
upon  the  nervous  systems  of  the  immature,  is 
valueless.  The  boy  needs  a  thorough  wholesome 
talk,  and  will  usually  respond  thereto.  Don't 


176    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

make  the  mistake  of  designating  smoking  as  a 
great  crime,  but  assert  emphatically  that  it  is  a 
great  mistake  for  any  boy  under  the  age  of 
twenty-one.  The  smoker  is  not  so  difficult  to 
detect.  Never  ask  a  boy  whether  he  has  been 
smoking,  if  you  are  sure  that  he  has  been,  and 
thus  give  him  an  opportunity  to  lie  out  of  the 
dilemma.  But  ask  him  rather  why  he  does 
smoke,  and  talk  the  matter  over  seriously  with 
him ;  not  as  if  smoking  per  se  were  a  great  crime, 
but  simply  a  habit  better  postponed  to  manhood 
for  the  reasons  that  you  will  show  him.  It  is 
probable  that  the  boy  will  respond  very  frankly, 
and  a  healthy  conclusion  of  the  matter  reached. 

Masturbation  and  attempts  at  sexual  inter- 
course are  subtler  evils.  The  latter,  though  more 
frequently  attempted  by  children  than  parents 
think,  is  possible  of  elimination  at  least  in  act, 
by  the  proper  supervision  of  the  boys,  and  in 
thought,  to  a  great  degree  by  the  influence  of  the 
master,  and  by  other  occupations  to  fill  the  boy's 
mind  and  time.  The  practice  of  self-abuse  is 
a  more  likely  occurence.  Indulged  in  solitarily, 
it  is  unquestionably  a  psycho-physical  rather 
than  a  great  moral  deflection,  but  in  mutual 
practice,  it  can  not  be  as  readily  condoned.  But 
like  the  question  of  smoking  the  matter  should 
be  put  up  to  each  boy  individually  by  the  man 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      177 

having  his  closest  confidence.  Medical  views  on 
this  subject  and  remedial  suggestions  have  been 
made  on  page  43.  It  is  the  greatest  of  all  mis- 
takes to  punish  a  boy  for  this  short-coming.  He 
may  be  dismissed  from  the  school  if  the  problem 
'can  not  be  solved  there,  but  never  punished 
otherwise.  Sexual  education  alone  is  the  element 
of  salvation — religious  sentiment  failing  to  prove 
a  real  restraining  power.  "A  child  who  has 
been  instructed  regarding  this  grave  and  im- 
portant matter  ...  in  a  proper  manner,  is 
in  a  position  to  reject  offers  of  a  coarse  method 
of  enlightenment;  but  by  the  customary — too 
long  customary — plan  ...  of  altogether  ig- 
noring the  sexual  life,  children  are  deprived  of 
the  power  of  repelling  obscene  methods  of  en- 
lightenment. ' ' * 

RELIGION 

It  is  a  question  how  much  of  an  influence  re- 
ligion is  in  a  child's  life.  That  it  should  have  its 
place  in  the  school  is  not  being  contradicted,  but 
its  practical,  rather  than  its  conventional  value, 
should  be  put  to  a  test.  How  much  does  it  con- 
tribute to  the  boy 's  character,  and  in  what  form 
is  that  contribution  made  t 

1  Sexual  Life  of  the  Child;  Moll    P.  286. 


178    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

Although  reference  has  already  been  made  to 
the  subject  on  pages  80  and  81,  the  question  is  no 
means  final  there.  The  point  of  view  of  the 
Interlaken  School  is  worthy  of  notice: 

"The  basis  of  the  home  education  is  a  varied 
and  healthy  environment,  intellectually  and 
aesthetically,  morally,  and  emotionally  stimulat- 
ing, with  ample  varied  invitation  and  opportun- 
ity, to  see,  say  and  do,  to  get  and  to  give,  to  lead 
and  to  follow ;  an  environment  that  insures  at  all 
points  wholesome  appeals  to  individual  initiative 
and  social  co-ordination  in  purpose  and  achieve- 
ment; that  rouses  and  lifts  the  instinct  of 
research,  nourishes  and  elevates  the  aesthetic 
•We  and  the  sympathies  that  lead  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  ethical  attitude  and  of  the  spirit  of 
reverence  which  underlies  every  phase  of  religi- 
ous fervor;  that  all  unconsciously  guides  the 
growing  being  aright  in  its  development  and 
renders  it  more  and  more  worthy  of  the  free- 
dom it  enjoys  therein.  Such  an  environment  the 
school  will  steadily  seek  to  maintain  in  its  organ- 
isation and  equipment,  in  the  example  of  its 
teachers  and  helpers,  in  its  instructions  and 
discipline,  its  work  and  play,  in  class-room  and 
field,  in  the  evening  family  gatherings  and  read- 
ings as  well  as  in  the  more  formal  general  ex- 
ercises. We  do  not  try  to  lecture  on  religion  to 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      171 

our  pupils,  but  to  live  religion  before  them  and 
with  them.  Our  pupils  must  never  see  or  hear 
us  scoff  about  sacred  things,  nor  find  us  in- 
different or  indulgent  about  what  is  wrong. 
They  must  observe  in  us  reverence  for  what  ia 
holy,  indignation  at  wrong-doing,  pitying  gentle- 
ness for  weakness,  and  boundless  readiness  at  all 
times  to  help  everyone.  '  '  l 

And  again,  referring  to  Dr.  Moll:  "I  do  not 
for  a  moment  dispute  the  fact  that  a  religious 
education  may  effect  admirable  results,  both  in 
respect  of  sexual  matters,  and  of  others.  Indeed, 
I  am  firmly  convinced  of  this.  But  the  religioua 
education  competent  to  do  this  does  not  consist 
merely  of  learning  Bible  texts  by  heart;  nor  is 
its  chief  aim  the  inculcation  of  precepts  which 
are  to-day  impossible  of  fulfilment  —  as  the  child 
sees  at  every  turn  in  the  conduct  of  the  members 
of  its  own  environment.  I  refer  to  the  religious 
education  which  has  an  internal  reality,  and 
arises  spontaneously  out  of  the  demands  of 
morality.  I  do  not  mean  the  sort  of  education 
which  regards  it  almost  as  a  disgrace  that  we 
come  naked  into  the  world;  not  the  religious 
education  which  regards  man  as  soiled  by  th« 


School;    1908—1909 
B.1& 


180     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

fact  that  he  is  born  from  his  mother's  womb ;  nor 
that  which  considers  every  sexual  act  as  essen- 
tially sinful,  and  asceticism  as  man's  salvation. 
It  is  not  religious  education  of  such  a  kind  that 
will  have  any  good  effect  in  the  matter  of  sexual 
education;  but  that  religious  education  only 
which  is  in  complete  accord  with  our  ideas  of 
morality,  and  which  is  based,  not  so  much  upon 
the  historical  and  material  contents  of  the  Bible, 
as  upon  the  eternal  and  everlasting  truths  of 
religion."1 

The  ideas  of  Dr.  Moll  and  the  Interlaken 
School  put  a  practical  application  on  religion, 
and  make  it  something  vital  and  vigorous — not 
merely  formal  and  meaningless. 

FORMAL  DISCIPLINE. 

At  the  risk  of  repetition,  the  doctrine  of  For- 
mal Discipline  is  again  expressed.  It  is  the 
theory  that  a  particular  power  developed 
through  the  pursuit  of  one  study  or  occupation, 
extends  in  general  to  all  studies  and  occupations. 
The  educational  world  is  divided  into  two  great 
forces,  one  supporting,  and  one  arguing  against 
the  validity  of  this  theory.  A  school-master 
must  at  least  hope  to  see  his  efforts  as  compre- 

1  Sexual  Life  of  the  Child ;  MolL    P.  273. 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      181 

hensive  as  possible,  and  to  believe  that  the  power 
of  memory  developed  in  the  study  of  Latin  for 
example  would  not  materially  assist  a  boy's 
memory  in  holding  historical  facts,  or  again,  to 
think  that  the  habit  of  neatness  required  in  the 
dormitory  would  have  to  be  learned  all  over 
again  to  assure  neatness  in  his  desk  in  the  school- 
room, would  be  the  source  of  endless  discourage- 
ment to  the  master,  and  almost  the  same  draw- 
back to  the  boy,  were  he  able  to  think  out  even 
the  simplest  psychological  problem  for  himself. 
So  it  must  be  with  a  cheerful  optimism  that  the 
master  of  a  boarding-school  joins  the  ranks  of  the 
formal  disciplinarians,  looking  forward  to  the 
day  when  results  will  prove  to  him  the  wisdom 
of  his  choice. 

SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

If  this  expression  is  taken  to  mean  self-control; 
by  all  means  let  us  have  it,  and  the  sooner  the 
better;  but  if  it  is  only  the  slogan  of  the  fetich 
of  a  pseudo-democracy,  let  it  be  carefully  con- 
sidered before  it  is  introduced  into  our  junior 
schools.  Perhaps  the  plan  is  well-advised  for  a 
secondary  school,  but  that  is  not  the  question  at 
issue  here.  As  generally  employed,  the  expres- 
sion implies  some  system  of  government  by  a 
committee  elected  from  the  rank  and  file.  The 


182    TOUNQ  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

scheme  has  been  worked  out  with  some  appear- 
ance of  success  in  the  "school  cities"  which 
flourish  in  the  districts  of  New  England  and  the 
Middle  West  inhabited  by  the  modernist,  who, 
in  his  eagerness  to  contribute  a  full-fledged  unit 
to  a  nation  of  politicians,  has  almost  forgotten 
the  fundamental  value  of  the  "  Three  R's."  In 
some  boarding-schools  accepting  boys  from  ten 
to  twenty,*  student  self-governing  committees 
formed  of  the  older  boys  have  worked  out  with 
considerable  success — notably  at  the  Morristown 
School.  For  a  school  however  that  is  to  receive 
pre-adolescent  boys  only,  the  plan  is  a  poor  one 
to  follow,  for  the  boys  themselves  are  too  imma- 
ture to  have  a  judicial  point  of  view.  Granted 
even  that  the  boys  may  learn  to  be  governed  by 
governing,  *  as  they  learn,  concretely,  about 
flowers,  for  instance,  by  raising  them,  the  propo- 
sition is  still  without  favor,  as  it  must  very 
reasonably  appear  that  boys  should  learn  to  ac- 
cept law,  before  they  are  able  to  frame  or  to 
interpret  it.  The  "concrete"  method  of  instruc- 
tion can  not  set  a  standard  by  which  every  lesson 
is  to  be  learned,  especially  when  there  is  a 
change  from  the  intellectual  to  the  moral. 
Enough  has  been  said  in  this  thesis  to  set  a  very 
positive  value  on  moral  training,  yet  promiscu- 
ous attempts  at  self-governing  by  boys  who  are 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      183 

too  young  to  appreciate  the  deeper  significance 
of  government,  and  not  old  enough  to  subserve 
the  temporary  animosities  of  childhood  to  the 
ends  of  justice,  are  plainly  injustices  to  the  boy 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word.  The  spirit  of 
tale-bearing,  of  spying,  of  "getting  even"  for 
petty  wrongs,  of  electioneering  for  place  and 
power,  needs  no  encouragement.  Even  with 
small  boys  a  periodic  election  bristles  with  poli- 
tics, and  the  efficient  office-holder  is  seldom  found 
to  be  popular.  A  system  of  praefects  on  the 
contrary,  following  out  the  idea  of  Dr.  Reddie's 
"monarchic  school,"  allows  the  co-operation  of 
the  boys  fit  to  co-operate,  in  the  support  of  the 
traditions,  discipline  and  spirit  of  the  school. 
These  praefects  are  appointed  rather  than 
elected,  and  hold  office,  pendant  upon  their  effi- 
ciency, at  the  pleasure  of  the  headmaster  and 
his  associates. 

Closely  akin  to  the  "self-government  plan" 
is  the  "honor  system,"  which  is  unquestionably 
too  great  a  moral  strain  upon  a  red-blooded 
small  boy  to  have  it,  in  all  equity,  forced  upon 
him.  It  gives  him  at  least  a  very  distorted  idea 
of  honor — an  idea  that  anything  "goes"  if  no 
one  is  caught — unfortunately  the  prevailing 
American  idea  of  the  word  to-day.  The  follow- 
ing case  is  typical. 


184     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

A  very  good  woman  had  been  accustomed  to 
conduct  a  Bible  Class  each  Sunday  morning  in 
a  class-room  adjoining  the  school-room  of  a  cer- 
tain boarding-school.  On  one  occasion  she  was 
called  out  of  the  class-room,  and  closing  the  door 
as  she  left,  extorted  a  promise  from  the  class  that 
it  would  behave — "on  its  honor. "  Anyone  who 
knows  boys,  and  loves  them,  can  appreciate  what 
followed.  Hearing  the  disturbance,  a  master 
who  happened  to  be  in  the  school-room,  went  to 
speak  to  the  boys.  They  had  wind  of  his  arrival 
however,  and  before  he  could  open  the  door, 
were  in  perfect  order.  As  he  was  suggesting  a 
little  better  order  in  no  uncertain  way,  the  gentle 
lady  appeared  and  found  fault  with  him  for 
interfering  with  her  class  which  was  left  "on  its 
honor."  Now  there  is  only  one  thing  serious 
about  this  little  incident.  It  is  not  that  the  boys 
were  playful — that  is  to  be  expected.  It  is  not 
that  the  teacher  left  the  room — that  is  legitimate. 
It  is  not  that  the  master  interfered — that  was 
inevitable  and  necessary.  It  is,  that  a  woman, 
thinking  she  was  a  strong  factor  in  the  moral 
training  of  those  boys,  placed  a  premium  on 
slyness  because  she  did  not  know  boys,  and 
allowed  them  to  think  that  such  conduct  was 
honor,  furthermore,  she  added  to  the  obliquity 
of  her  mistake,  by  criticising  the  master  in  the 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      185 

presence  of  the  boys.  He,  poor  man,  was  merely 
following  the  advice  of  a  great  English  school- 
master: "Trust  boys?  Certainly.  Trust  them 
— and  watch  them!" 

SCHOOL  ORGANISATIONS. 

There  is  no  better  way  of  providing  for  com- 
plete participation  in  school  activities,  both  in- 
doors and  out,  than  by  the  establishment  of  two 
clubs,  to  one  or  the  other  of  which  each  boy  must 
belong.  The  numbers  in  each  club  should  be 
even,  and  the  members  chosen  alternately  from 
the  new  boys,  by  the  old-boy  members  and  mas- 
ters. These  clubs  might  afford  the  boys  some 
very  legitimate  opportunity  and  practice  in  self- 
management,  under  the  counsel  of  one  or  more 
masters.  They  offer  a  good  way  for  an  acquaint- 
ance of  parliamentary  law,  and  introductory  ex- 
perience in  government.  For  indoor  activities, 
such  as  dramatics  and  the  like,  one  club  would 
be  the  audience,  and  the  other  the  performers, 
and  this  would  alternate.  For  open-air  sports 
there  would  always  be  the  nuclei  of  two  teams. 
By  following  this  plan,  the  boys  are  "tried  out," 
and  the  best  material  may  be  selected  to 
represent  the  school,  on  the  regular  school  teams. 
At  the  same  time  provision  is  made  for  carrying 
on  school  athletics  in  the  most  natural  and  sports- 


186     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

manlike  way.  There  may  be  strong  feeling  on  a 
boy's  part  in  favor  of  his  own  club,  yet  this  is 
sure  to  give  precedence  to  his  loyalty  to  the 
school  teams,  and  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  school 
as  a  whole  is  improved,  rather  than  cut  into,  by 
this  scheme. 

In  the  winter  time,  beside  the  indoor  entertain- 
ment that  these  two  clubs  would  afford,  there 
would  very  likely  flourish  an  organisation  of 
stamp  collectors,  of  photographers,  etc.,  etc., 
drawing  from  the  ranks  of  both.  Hobbies  of  this 
sort  are  worth  encouraging  as  they  have  strong 
educational  values. 

There  is  one  time  when  perhaps  club  feeling 
will  give  way  to  class  spirit  and  that  is  when  the 
older  boys  are  nearing  the  end  of  their  work  in 
the  Sixth  Form,  and  awake  to  the  consciousness 
that  they  are  the  graduating  class.  It  is  for  the 
good  of  the  school  spirit  that  this  sentiment  be 
encouraged,  although  commencements  in  a  junior 
school  may  always  approach  the  irreducibly  in- 
formal without  going  far  astray. 

In  regard  to  the  athletic  organisations  as  such, 
they  will  naturally  be  "  coached "  by  one  of  the 
masters,  and  managed  by  another.  A  boy  of  ex- 
ceptional ability  may  be  an  assistant  manager, 
but  the  main  planning  and  business  affairs  of  the 
team  should  never  be  left  entirely  in  a  boy's 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL     1IT 

hands.  Even  older  fellows  fail  to  show  absolute 
competency  and  reliability  in  the  management  of 
teams. 

Secret  societies  will  of  course  be  under  the  ban, 
and  hazing  should  be  impossible  in  a  well  man- 
aged junior  school.  Boys  are  gregarious  creatures 
and  are  bound  to  have  little  cliques,  sub  rosa, 
within  the  "  Court  of  Boyville."  But  these  are 
mainly  harmless,  and  usually  of  brief  duration. 
The  odious  secret  society  with  a  quasi-official  re- 
cognition, is  very  much  against  a  good  democratic 
spirit  in  the  school,  but  really  is  a  problem  for 
the  secondary  school  to  handle,  and  not  for  the 
elementary. 

ON   THE  TRAINING  OP   PARENTS. 

It  would  be  fortunate  indeed  for  the  majority 
of  youngsters  who  find  themselves  in  boarding- 
school,  could  they  be,  for  the  first  at  least,  ab- 
solutely cut  off  from  their  parents.  A  healthy 
boy,  however  home-loving  is  not  apt  to  languish 
very  long  in  the  throes  of  nostalgia,  if  the  dot- 
ing father  or  mother  could  only  suppress  for  a 
while  their  homesickness  for  the  boy.  It  is  pretty 
hard  for  them  to  leave  him,  and  they  seldom  give 
him  the  square  deal,  and  make  it  any  easier.  A 
little  boy  may  come  in  for  some  "mothering"  at 


188     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

school  under  stress  of  circumstances,  but  it  is 
not  often  that  he  either  wishes  it,  or  needs  it. 

If  parents  would  but  satisfy  themselves  of  the 
personnel  of  the  school  and  its  policy,  and  then, 
having  entered  the  boy,  abide  by  the  school's 
rules  and  regulations  without  expecting  special 
privileges,  the  co-operation  would  contribute  a 
vast  amount  towards  the  boy's  success  in  the 
school.  A  father  is  apt  to  be  better  in  this 
respect  than  the  mother,  and  this  is  probably  one 
reason  why  in  England  v.lu-n»  the  father  is  the 
deciding  factor  in  the  family,  the  boy  is  more  of 
a  success  in  boarding-school,  than  in  America. 

Parents  should  remove  their  fear  of  accident 
from  the  boy,  and  allow  him  to  study  and  play 
as  other  boys  do,  if  he  is  normal  physically  and 
mentally.  The  chances  are  that  he  will  prove 
slightly  abnormal  mentally  at  first,  and  grossly 
so  socially,  but  there  is  nothing  like  the  class- 
room and  the  athletic  field  to  develop  an  all- 
sided  normal  condition.  Football  for  young- 
sters, instead  of  being  full  of  brutality  and  full 
of  danger,  is  really  comparatively  safe  as  imma- 
ture boys  have  not  the  weight  to  play  it  hard 
enough  to  injure  themselves,  and  it  is  a  game 
that  stimulates  courage,  quickness  of  perception, 
mental  alertness,  esprit  de  corps,  physical 
strength  and  moral  vigor.  The'  writer  having 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      189 

had  several  years  experience  in  managing  a  foot- 
ball team  of  boys  from  twelve  to  fourteen,  can 
not  recall  a  single  serious  injury  to  any  boy 
that  ever  played  on  his  teams,  or  on  opposing 
teams,  or  on  other  pre-adolescent  teams  during 
the  same  period.  His  research  at  the  hospitals 
confirm  the  opinion  that,  although  the  sport  may 
be  abandoned  for  older  boys,  it  has  not  proven 
the  cause  of  operations  for  rupture,  or  for  broken 
bones,  or  dislocations,  in  the  institutions  studied. 

The  other  sports  should,  and  probably  do,  have 
the  spontaneous  support  of  parents.  A  boy 
should  have  a  physical  examination  semi-an- 
nually  at  the  school,  and  only  be  debarred  from 
participation  in  school  athletics  for  some  organic 
weakness,  or  serious  structural  defect. 

Co-operation  is  a  mighty  word,  and  a  power 
that  must  obtain  both  within  and  without  the 
school  ranks  in  order  that  the  boy's  progress 
may  not  be  impeded,  or  the  work  of  the  school 
restricted.  Petty  animosities  that  may  arise  in 
the  staff,  should  give  place,  and  will  give  place 
under  the  tactful  handling  of  a  wise  headmaster, 
to  united  effort  for  the  welfare  of  the  school. 


ILLNESSES. 


The  vacations,  and  especially  those  at  Christ- 
mas and  in  the  Spring,  are  the  chief  source  of 


190    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

contagious  diseases  in  the  school.  If  a  fortnight 
elapses  in  January  and  again  in  April,  with  no 
contagion  appearing  the  headmaster  who  watches 
carefully  the  health  of  his  school,  may  rest  easily. 
It  is  fortunate  when  a  school  is  located  near 
enough  to  a  centre  of  sufficient  size  to  support  a 
hospital,  for  the  hospital  is  always  a  haven  when 
more  serious  diseases  like  scarlet  fever  and 
typhoid  arise,  and  it  is  also  a  satisfaction  to  have 
it  nearby  in  case  of  surgical  exigencies.  No 
doubt  simpler  illnesses  such  as  measles,  chicken- 
pox,  mumps,  etc.,  if  they  have  to  be  endured  at 
all,  may  be  successfully  managed  in  the  portion 
of  the  school  set  apart  as  an  infirmary,  under  the 
care  of  a  special  trained  nurse,  without  parti- 
cular danger  of  spreading  to  more  than  the  im- 
mediate case  or  cases  in  hand.  Casual  disturb- 
ances such  as  colds,  tonsilitis,  indigestion,  cuts 
and  bruises,  etc.,  etc.,  can  certainly  be  managed 
there  under  the  direction  of  the  school  physician. 
But  with  the  exception  of  cuts  and  bruises,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  be  afflicted  with  these  troubles 
if  the  boys  are  properly  watched.  That  preven- 
tion is  better  than  cure  is  by  far  the  best  policy 
to  follow.  It  is  improbable  that  any  boy  who 
washes,  dresses,  exercises,  eats,  sleeps,  and  works 
properly,  will  be  subject  to  any  of  these  misfor- 
tunes. It  is  probable  that  irregularity  in  th* 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      191 

movement  of  the  bowels  contributes  more  to 
temporary  ailments  than  any  one  certain  cause, 
and  as  this  is  a  fixed  and  known  cause,  it  is  the 
more  readily  dealt  with.  The  prevention  of  con- 
tagious illnesses  lies  in  the  sanitation  of  the 
premises,  the  purity  of  the  food  supply — espe- 
cially milk, — the  avoidance  of  malarial  districts, 
the  amount  of  fresh  air  and  sunshine  allowed  to 
penetrate  the  buildings  daily,  and  as  close  a 
report  as  possible  of  the  dangers  to  which  the 
boy  has  been  exposed  during  the  vacations,  and 
may  be  importing,  unawares,  to  the  school  To 
be  ever  ready  to  cope  with  conditions,  and  ever 
watchful  of  the  boys  is  indeed  sound  advice,  yet 
it  is  probable  that  too  great  an  anxiety  or  too 
close  a  scrutiny,  constantly,  for  symptoms, 
stimulates  a  state  of  mind  that  is  more  likely  to 
induce  disease  than  to  repel  it.  Consequently  it 
is  a  good  plan  when  the  boys  are  kept  too  busy 
to  be  sick,  and  their  minds  kept  full  of  other 
ideas. 

A  BOY'S  SUMMER. 

The  summer  problem  is  a  serious  question. 
Frequently  three  or  more  ill-spent  months  will 
undo  nearly  all  the  good,  physical,  mental,  moral 
and  social,  that  a  school  has  built  up.  Travel  is 
no  doubt  of  interest  to  the  majority  of  boys,  and 


192     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

a  judicious  amount  judiciously  undertaken  is  a 
valuable  educational  asset.  Over-done,  it  is  a 
great  misfortune  for  the  boy,  but  even  at  that, 
it  is  probably  better  in  every  way  than  a  sum- 
mer of  loafing  at  a  fashionable  hotel,  or  in  the 
holiday  home  that  revolves  in  the  social  whirl 
Boys  who  are  sent  to  boarding-school  at  an  early 
age,  certainly  should  have  the  opportunity  for 
some  acquaintance  with  their  families,  and  the 
ideal  summer  for  such,  is  the  "private  camp" 
where  the  boy  may  live  a  healthy  out-of-door 
life  with  his  family,  who  have  made  some  ar- 
rangement to  keep  him  employed  at  a  fixed  oc- 
cupation— domestic  duties,  manual  training, 
studying,  or  something  of  that  sort — for  at  least 
two  hours  of  the  forenoon  and  during  the  rest  of 
the  day  assured  as  much  time  as  possible  in  com- 
pany with  his  father  or  mother,  whichever  parent 
is  closest  in  his  confidence.  A  summer  thus  spent 
means  a  return  to  school  in  good  health,  in  men- 
tal alertness,  in  moral  advancement,  and  in  true 
social  progress.  It  is  hoped  that  the  boy  will 
have  brothers  and  sisters  and  other  companions 
of  his  own  age  in  this,  his  summer  home.  The 
comradeship  of  the  sister  is  of  vital  value,  as  it 
is  the  boy's  opportunity  for  acquaintance  with 
feminine  ways.  Such  a  vacation  assures  a  happy, 
busy,  summer,  and  if  happy  enough,  and  busy 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      193 

enough,  there  will  be  no  time  for  morbidity.  The 
testimony  of  numerous  boys  affirms  the  fact  that 
the  summer  vacation,  if  not  a  busy  one  filled  with 
good  things,  is  sure  to  prove  exactly  the  reverse. 
The  temptations  of  sex  are  more  difficult  to  resist 
when  the  woodside,  the  barn,  and  other  isolated 
places,  invite  to  seclusion,  and  the  mercury  sug- 
gests that  loafing  is  better  than  exercise. 

For  the  boys  who  for  one  reason  or  another 
can  not  spend  such  a  summer  with  their  families, 
probably  the  " boy's  camp"  is  the  place.  Camp 
life  of  this  character  has  much  to  commend  it, 
and  in  the  main  is  generally  healthy.  There  are 
some  camps  perhaps  where  the  honor  of  the  boys 
is  put  to  too  severe  a  test,  or  where,  if  the  honor 
system  is  not  in  vogue,  the  boys  are  not  busily 
enough  occupied  or  carefully  enough  watched. 
Under  such  loose  administration,  the  demoralisa- 
tion may  be  as  great,  or  even  greater,  than  in  the 
unsettled  home,  as  the  larger  number  of  boys 
in  the  group  provide  a  stronger  impetus  towards 
evil,  once  the  momentum  is  started  in  that  direc- 
tion. But  the  thoughtful  selection  of  a  camp, 
recommended  perhaps  by  another  boy  whom  the 
father  or  mother  may  have  confidence  in,  or  by 
parents  who  have  had  boys  there  in  past  seasons 
and  are  very  sure  of  the  influence  of  the  estab- 
lishment, will  result  in  finding  a  fit  place.  Per- 


194    YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

sonal  impressions  are  apt  to  be  a  good  guide,  and 
it  is  an  excellent  plan  to  visit  several  camps  of  a 
summer,  with  an  idea  of  choosing  one  the  fol- 
lowing season  for  the  boy.  Visitors  are  usually 
welcome  at  these  camps,  and  are  sure  to  be  very 
cordially  received  and  hospitably  treated,  if 
the  camp  directors  are  men  of  the  right  sort. 
There  are  two  very  distinct  types  of  camps. 
One  is  the  type  in  which  the  younger  and  older 
boys  are  completely  segregated,  as  they  are  in  the 
junior  and  senior  boarding-schools.  This  plan 
has  much  to  commend  it.  Personally  speaking  I 
feel  that  it  rather  the  better.  The  rights  of  the 
youngsters  are  not  infringed  upon  by  older  boys, 
and  the  camp  can  be  so  directed  as  to  give  a  little 
more  personal  comradeship  to  the  lads,  than 
older  boys  require.  The  second  type  is  the  camp 
that  receives  boys  of  all  ages,  separating  them  in 
tent-groups,  and  in  sports,  but  bringing  them 
together  at  other  times. 

The  question  of  a  school  camp  is  answered 
negatively  at  the  outset  upon  several  grounds. 
Men  who  have  worked  with  a  group  of  boys  for 
eight  months  or  more,  find  better  rest  and  recupe- 
ration, and  return  the  better  prepared  for  school 
work  in  the  autumn,  by  spending  the  summer 
holidays  in  a  different  way.  It  is  equally  true 
that  the  boys  will  benefit  by  separation  from  the 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      195 

lads  and  from  the  masters  with  whom  they  have 
lived  nine  months  of  the  year.  Like  the  masters 
they  return  fresher  for  the  comradeships  and 
environment  of  the  autumn  by  experiencing  a 
complete  change  during  the  summer.  From  a 
business  point  of  view,  although  schools  have 
been  known  to  evolve  from  camps,  it  is  improb- 
able that  the  school  can  expect  very  much  addi- 
tional patronage  through  the  establishment  of  a 
camp.  A  canvas  of  several  camps  revealed  the 
fact  that  the  great  majority  of  boys  enrolled, 
were  day-school  boys,  and  were  really  the 
most  remote  of  candidates  for  boarding-school. 
This  is  partly  true,  because  the  moderate  ex- 
pense for  a  satisfactory  summer  for  a  boy, 
reaches  the  hearts  and  pocket-books  of  those  to 
whom  the  expense  of  boarding-schools  is  prohi- 
bitory. The  few  boarding-school  boys  who  were 
met  with,  were  perfectly  loyal  to  their  own 
schools. 

The  camp  councillor  is  even  a  more  important 
man  than  a  master,  and  perhaps  it  is  unfortunate 
that  the  camps  as  a  rule  take  rather  immature 
college  men  to  direct  the  destinies  of  the  boys. 
It  is  quite  an  art  to  be  a  good  councillor,  in 
every  sense  of  the  word. 

As  a  financial  proposition  per  set  the  number 


196     YOUNG  BOYS  AND  BOARDING-SCHOOL 

of  camps  that  flourish,  justify  the  conclusion, 
that  the  business  must  be  remunerative. 

ARTICULATION 

In  drawing  this  discussion  of  the  functions,  or- 
ganisation, and  administration  of  the  sub-pre- 
paratory boarding-school  to  a  close,  we  should 
glance  once  more  at  the  object  of  the  pursuit — 
the  all-sided  preparation  of  the  boy  for  his  next 
step  in  life — the  secondary  school 

At  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen,  the  boy  has 
reached  the  full  period  of  puberty,  he  has  come 
to  a  very  full  consciousness  of  sex,  and  with 
his  rapid  mental  and  physical  growth  at  this 
time,  the  world  seems  to  open  before  him  in  a 
new  light.  He  is  tired  of  being  with  little  boys; 
he  ignores  them  most  haughtily;  he  feels  he 
belongs  with  the  older  fellows  in  the  upper 
school,  and  he  is  right.  The  time  has  come  for 
him  to  change.  It  is  a  change  too;  not  merely 
the  passing  from  one  form  to  another,  but  the 
stepping  from  one  environment  into  a  new  life. 
His  lessons  from  now  on  must  be  learned  in  a 
different  way,  and,  for  a  different  purpose,  for 
the  golden  shore  of  college  is  the  goal  he  has  in 
mind.  And  if  the  work  of  the  lower  school  has 
been  sincere,  and  true,  and  thorough,  we  shall 
find  him  a  well-developed  boy,  ready  of  mind, 


SPECIAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SCHOOL      197 

strong  of  body,  and  resolute  in  character — per- 
fectly equipped  for  three  or  four  years  of  work 
in  the  college-preparatory  school  and  then,  for 
him,  it  will  be  Harvard,  or  Princeton,  or  Yale, 
or  even  that  still  greater  university — the  World ! 
Can  it  be  that  any  boy  thus  educated — educated 
in  the  fullest  meaning  of  the  word — will  fail  of 
success  in  life?  To  a  rugged  constitution,  here- 
dity and  disease  present  no  fear,  to  the  mind 
self -controlled,  dissapation  offers  no  allurement. 
Physically  robust,  mentally  expanded,  morally 
firm,  socially  superior,  the  boy  matured  can  meet 
the  world — a  God-fearing  man,  a  valuable  citi- 
zen, and  one  worthy  to  be  the  father  of  genera- 
tions to  come. 

And  so  the  articulation  between  one  school  and 
the  next  takes  place — not  in  a  continuation  of 
just  the  same  subjects,  or  methods,  or  ideals,  but 
in  a  complete  and  symmetrical  preparation  for 
the  activities,  the  emotions,  and  the  successes,  of 
adolescence. 


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